294 research outputs found

    Story, dialogue and caring about what matters to people: progress towards evidence-enriched policy and practice

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    Evidence-based practice in social care and health is widely promoted.  Making it a reality remains challenging, largely because practitioners generally see practice-based knowledge as more relevant than empirical research. A further challenge regarding the creative, contextual use of research and other evidence including lived experience and practice-based knowledge is that practitioners, especially in frontline care services, are often seen not as innovators, but recipients of rules and guidelines or followers of predetermined plans. Likewise, older people are not generally recognised as co-creators of knowledge, learning and development but as passive recipients of care, or objects of research.This paper outlines a participatory action research project which brought together researchers; social care and health practitioners; managers; older people and carers in 6 sites across Wales and Scotland. Working collaboratively, and using a dialogic storytelling approach, they explored and addressed 7 already published research-based ‘Challenges’ regarding what matters most to older people with highsupport needs. Taking a participatory, caring and emergent approach, participants discovered and addressed five elements required in developing evidence- enriched practice; the creation of supportive and relationship-centred research and practice environments; the valuing of diverse types of evidence; the use of engaging narratives to capture and share evidence; the use of dialogue-based approaches to learning and development; and the recognition and resolution of systemic barriers to development. Although existing literature covers each element, this project was novel in collectively exploring and addressing all five elements together, and in its use of multiple forms of story, which engaged hearts and minds

    The bovine paranasal sinuses: Bacterial flora, epithelial expression of nitric oxide and potential role in the in-herd persistence of respiratory disease pathogens

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    peer-reviewedThe bovine paranasal sinuses are a group of complex cavernous air-filled spaces, lined by respiratory epithelium, the exact function of which is unclear. While lesions affecting these sinuses are occasionally reported in cattle, their microbial flora has not been defined. Furthermore, given that the various bacterial and viral pathogens causing bovine respiratory disease (BRD) persist within herds, we speculated that the paranasal sinuses may serve as a refuge for such infectious agents. The paranasal sinuses of clinically normal cattle (n = 99) and of cattle submitted for post-mortem examination (PME: n = 34) were examined by microbial culture, PCR and serology to include bacterial and viral pathogens typically associated with BRD: Mycoplasma bovis, Histophilus somni, Mannheimia haemolytica and Pasteurella multocida, bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) and bovine parainfluenza-3 virus (BPIV-3). Overall, the paranasal sinuses were either predominantly sterile or did not contain detectable microbes (83.5%: 94.9% of clinically normal and 50.0% of cattle submitted for PME). Bacteria, including BRD causing pathogens, were identified in relatively small numbers of cattle (<10%). While serology indicated widespread exposure of both clinically normal and cattle submitted for PME to BPIV-3 and BRSV (seroprevalences of 91.6% and 84.7%, respectively), PCR identified BPIV-3 in only one animal. To further explore these findings we investigated the potential role of the antimicrobial molecule nitric oxide (NO) within paranasal sinus epithelium using immunohistochemistry. Expression of the enzyme responsible for NO synthesis, inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), was detected to varying degrees in 76.5% of a sub-sample of animals suggesting production of this compound plays a similar protective role in the bovine sinus as it does in humans

    Developing Evidence Enriched Practice in Health and Social Care with Older People

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    This one-year study is part of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) programme called A Better Life. It summarises the lessons learned from an appreciative and collaborative approach to using a range of evidence in service and workforce development to promote a better life for older people, carers and the staff who support them. The report outlines: • key features of a collaborative action-research project involving older people, carers, researchers and staff from social care and health organisations, both statutory and voluntary • how participants at six project sites in Wales and Scotland combined research from A Better Life and local, contextual evidence to make improvements in service and workforce development • the key elements that support and inhibit the use of evidence in service and workforce development • well-being and learning outcomes for project participants • a consideration of the costs associated with the approach taken, and the resources needed to run and sustain similar projects

    Interface of the Environment and Occurrence of Botrytis cinerea in Pre-symptomatic Tomato Crops

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    Botrytis cinerea (Grey mould) is a necrotrophic fungus infecting over 230 plant species worldwide. It can cause major pre- and post-harvest diseases of many agronomic and horticultural crops. Botrytis cinerea causes annual economic losses of 10–100 billion US dollars worldwide and instability in the food supply (Jin and Wu, 2015). Grey mould losses, either at the farm gate or later in the food chain, could be reduced with improved knowledge of inoculum availability during production. In this paper, we report on the ability to monitor Botrytis spore concentration in glasshouse tomato production ahead of symptom development on plants. Using a light weight and portable air sampler (microtitre immunospore trap) it was possible to quantify inoculum availability within hours. Also, this study investigated the spatial aspect of the pathogen with an increase of B. cinerea concentration in bio-aerosols collected in the lower part of the glasshouse (0.5 m) and adjacent to the trained stems of the tomato plants. No obvious relationship was observed between B. cinerea concentration and the internal glasshouse environmental parameters of temperature and relative humidity. However the occurrence of higher outside wind speeds did increase the prevalence of B. cinerea conidia in the cropping environment of a vented glasshouse. Knowledge of inoculum availability at time periods when the environmental risk of pathogen infection is high should improve the targeted use and effectiveness of control inputs
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