Cygnet Psycho-educational Intervention Programme for Parents of Children on the Autistic Spectrum: A study exploring changes in the parents' perceived self-efficacy, wellbeing and their children’s behaviour

Abstract Aim: When a child receives a diagnosis of autism, their parents will often find it difficult to understand the condition and its impact on the child’s behaviour. As a result, parents often seek help to obtain a better understanding of autism and strategies to help them address these difficulties. The Cygnet programme is a parenting intervention designed to meet such needs delivered by educational psychologists in the United Kingdom. To date, there has been little research on the effectiveness of this intervention. Method: This study consisted of a small-scale evaluation of cohorts attending seven separate programmes within one local authority. A non-randomised, mixed methods was adopted and comprised an intervention group (n=24) of parents who attended a Cygnet programme and a control group (n=16) of parents on the waiting list to attend the programme. All parents completed standardised questionnaires of perceived parental self-efficacy, wellbeing and child behaviour at three time points (0, 6 and 18 weeks). A sample (n=6) of programme attendees were interviewed to provide qualitative data. Findings: The quantitative data obtained did not demonstrate statistically significant differences between the two groups. However, the qualitative data found that the Cygnet Intervention was beneficial for parents of a child with autism. All the parents interviewed were extremely positive about the programme, not just for the knowledge they acquired and subsequently were able to utilise, but for the contact they had with parents in a similar situation. The study also found statistically significant associations between perceived self-efficacy and wellbeing and perceived wellbeing and child behaviour for the Intervention group, which were not replicated in the Control Group. Conclusions: Attendance on the Cygnet programme provided the parents with increased self-efficacy and wellbeing with some perceived improvements in their child’s behaviour. Limitations of this study and areas for future research were also discussed. Key words: Parent intervention, mixed methods, self-efficacy, wellbeing, child behaviou

Prime Ministerial self-reported actions in Prime Minister’s Questions 1979-2010:a corpus-assisted analysis

This article analyses prime ministerial self-representation in the context of responses to the questions put to four recent British Prime Ministers during Prime Minister’s Questions. From the transcripts of these PMs’ contributions to PMQs, all the clauses with ‘I’ as subject were identified. Corpus analysis software was used to calculate which are the most frequent verbs of which ‘I’ is the subject when PMs answer questions during PMQs. The verbs were classified semantically, and pragmatic and rhetorical patterns were identified. Results show a high proportion of cognitive and communicative processes, as opposed to verbs denoting physical or material actions. Through the close analysis of PMs’ utterances featuring structures with ‘I’ and three frequent verbs – THINK, UNDERSTAND and SAY – we explore patterns in their argumentation, management of face and authority, and identification with the norms of this political institution as well as those of the wider society. We argue that normative influences on what PMs represent themselves as doing include explicit constraints on parliamentary behaviour, an adversarial culture that persists despite long-standing criticisms, and the requirement to conform both to the conventions of this ritualised discourse situation and to broader socio-cultural expectations

Representing Women, Women Representing:Backbenchers' Questions during Prime Minister's Questions, 1979-2010

This article investigates linguistic traces of changing trends in the substantive representation of women and broader representational claims related to constituencies, via an analysis of all backbench questions posed during Prime Minister's Questions in the UK House of Commons, 1979-2010. We investigate the impact of sharp increases in female MPs and left-wing female MPs in particular, and the presence of a left-wing government on MPs' talk about women and about constituencies. We find no evidence of curvilinear trends in talk about women related to changes in government and female parliamentary presence. We also find that female MPs can be considered critical actors with regard to constituency talk

A service evaluation of passive remote monitoring technology for patients in a high-secure forensic psychiatric hospital:a qualitative study

Background: Technology has the potential to remotely monitor patient safety in real-time that helps staff and without disturbing the patient. However, staff and patients’ perspectives on using passive remote monitoring within an inpatient setting is lacking. The study aim was to explore stakeholders’ perspectives about using Oxehealth passive monitoring technology within a high-secure forensic psychiatric hospital in the UK as part of a wider mixed-methods service evaluation.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff and patients with experience of using Oxehealth technology face-to-face within a private room in Broadmoor Hospital. We applied thematic analysis to the data of each participant group separately. Themes and sub-themes were integrated, finalised, and presented in a thematic map. Design, management, and analysis was meaningfully informed by both staff and patients.Results: Twenty-four participants were interviewed (n = 12 staff, n = 12 patients). There were seven main themes: detecting deterioration and improving health and safety, “big brother syndrome”, privacy and dignity, knowledge and understanding, acceptance, barriers to use and practice issues and future changes needed. Oxehealth technology was considered acceptable to both staff and patients if the technology was used to detect deterioration and improve patient’s safety providing patient’s privacy was not invaded. However, overall acceptance was lower when knowledge and understanding of the technology and its camera was limited. Most patients could not understand why both physical checks through bedroom windows, and Oxehealth was needed to monitor patients, whilst staff felt Oxehealth should not replace physical checks of patients as reassures staff on patient safety.Conclusions: Oxehealth technology is considered viable and acceptable by most staff and patients but there is still some concern about its possible intrusive nature. However, more support and education for new patients and staff to better understand how Oxehealth works in the short- and long-term could be introduced to further improve acceptability. A feasibility study or pilot trial to compare the impact of Oxehealth with and without physical checks may be needed

The Role and Therapeutic Potential of miRNAs in Colorectal Liver Metastasis

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Liver metastasis is the major cause of CRC patient mortality, occurring in 60% patients with no effective therapies. Although studies have indicated the role of miRNAs in CRC, an in-depth miRNA expression analysis is essential to identify clinically relevant miRNAs and understand their potential in targeting liver metastasis. Here we analyzed miRNA expressions in 405 patient tumors from publicly available colorectal cancer genome sequencing project database. Our analyses showed miR-132, miR-378f, miR-605 and miR-1976 to be the most significantly downregulated miRNAs in primary and CRC liver metastatic tissues, and CRC cell lines. Observations in CRC cell lines indicated that ectopic expressions of miR-378f, -605 and -1976 suppress CRC cell proliferation, anchorage independent growth, metastatic potential, and enhance apoptosis. Consistently, CRC patients with higher miR-378f and miR-1976 levels exhibited better survival. Together, our data suggests an anti-tumorigenic role of these miRNAs in CRC and warrant future in vivo evaluation of the molecules for developing biomarkers or novel therapeutic strategies

The Role and Therapeutic Potential of miRNAs in Colorectal Liver Metastasis

poster abstractColorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy worldwide. Liver metastasis occurs in 60% of CRC patients and responds poorly to the available treatments making it the major cause of their mortality. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved, endogenously encoded small, non-coding RNA molecules that regulate global gene expression. The role of microRNAs in cancer pathogenesis, including CRC, has been well documented. However, in-depth miRNA expression analysis on a large cohort of CRC tumors is needed to identify the clinically relevant miRNAs and explore their potential to target liver metastases. To this purpose, we analyzed miRNA expression data of 406 CRC tumors from the publicly available colorectal cancer genome sequencing project and identified 58 miRNAs that were significantly downregulated. 10 miRNAs were selected for further analyses that were either known to target genes in cellular pathways or located within the commonly lost chromosomal loci associated with CRC liver metastases. Of these 10 miRNAs, miR-132, miR-378f, miR-605 and miR-1976 showed significant downregulation with >2 fold change (p>0.05) in primary and CRC liver metastasis tissues and in CRC cell lines. To investigate their anti-tumorigenic and metastatic properties, we transfected 3 different CRC cell lines (SW620, HCT-116 and CT-26) with miR-mimics and subjected them to cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell transformation assays. Ectopic expression of miR-378f, -605 and -1976 suppressed CRC cell proliferation, anchorage independent growth, migration and invasion and induced apoptosis. Interestingly, CRC patients with high miR-378f and miR-1976 had better survival compared to low expressing patients (p<0.044). Our in vitro data suggest the anti-tumorigenic/metastatic properties of miR-378f, -605 and -1976 in CRC. Further understanding of their functions and in vivo therapeutic evaluations may help in developing novel therapeutic strategies for this malignancy

Hachimoji DNA and RNA: A genetic system with eight building blocks

Reported here are DNA and RNA-like systems built from eight (hachi-) nucleotide letters (-moji) that form four orthogonal pairs. This synthetic genetic biopolymer meets the structural requirements needed to support Darwinism, including a polyelectrolyte backbone, predictable thermodynamic stability, and stereoregular building blocks that fit a Schrödinger aperiodic crystal. Measured thermodynamic parameters predict the stability of hachimoji duplexes, allowing hachimoji DNA to double the information density of natural terran DNA. Three crystal structures show that the synthetic building blocks do not perturb the aperiodic crystal seen in the DNA double helix. Hachimoji DNA was then transcribed to give hachimoji RNA in the form of a functioning fluorescent hachimoji aptamer. These results expand the scope of molecular structures that might support life, including life throughout the cosmos

Implementing FIP's global pharmaceutical education transformation vision in Sub-Saharan African countries

The realization of a competent, versatile and adaptable Pharmaceutical workforce which is a key component in achieving the World Health Organization Universal Health Coverage agenda in 2030 depends on the supply of adequately trained pharmacy workforce who can improve access to quality medicines while delivering quality pharmaceutical services. Despite the rise in the density of pharmacists across all World Health Organization regions, African countries still stay considerably behind in terms of absolute capacity per capita which means that the pharmacy workforce in Africa continues to be very low and not adequate to deliver the pharmaceutical services needs of the region. The International Pharmaceutical Federation is leading the transformation of pharmacy education in Sub-Saharan African countries to bridge this gap with a spotlight on increasing academic capacity, establishing needs-based education strategies and creating an enabling practice environment through advocacy. This commentary paper seeks to discuss the strategies such as the FIP-UNITWIN Programme and the Kenya-Nottingham Partnership utilized in transforming the pharmacy education and therefore the pharmaceutical workforce within the Sub-Saharan African Countries. This paper also gives a clue on subsequent steps which can advance pharmaceutical practice and science in the region

Barriers to Follow-up for Women with a History of Gestational Diabetes

Women with gestational diabetes (GDM) are at increased risk for type 2 diabetes (T2DM), but many do not receive recommended follow-up. We sought to identify barriers to follow-up screening