The prevalence and practice of self-injury: a sociological enquiry.

The widespread practice of non-suicidal self-injury suggests that it might no longer be reasonable to frame such behaviours as individual pathologies and highlights the need to understand such acts as sociological phenomena instead. This dissertation therefore explored the core elements of self-injury such as the self, the body, and meanings ascribed to acts of injuring the self/body, in relation to forms of sociation. Focusing on intent and aetiology, this qualitative enquiry used an interpretive mode of explanation, and collected data via indepth face-to-face interviews from a characteristically diverse community sample of fifteen participants. Findings indicated that respondents' aetiologies of self-injury were located in social interactions characterised by abuse, neglect, bullying, and invalidation. Individuals who perceived themselves as worthless and unlovable objects punished themselves, or branded themselves as failures. Paradoxically, sufficient castigation averted the complete annihilation of the existential self. Findings concur with previous studies which reported that, at its deepest level, self-injury is antithetical to suicide. This study also highlighted the body's communicative role in the symbolic expression of traumatic experiences, and emphasised its physiological role in (a) emotion regulation and (b) self-injury's propensity to become addictive. From a sociological perspective, instant emotion regulation via self-injury allowed individuals to avoid social stigma; well managed social performances in turn protected social bonds. Although self-injury constitutes a maladaptive coping mechanism, its reported physiological, psychological and social gains are significant and need to be considered in intervention programmes and policy. This dissertation therefore makes two recommendations: firstly, restorative practices should be reinstituted, particularly in schools; secondly, the growing and alarming trend of copycat behaviours reported in children and young teens needs to be researched further in relation to the mediation, ideation and imitation of self-injurious behaviours

Young onset dementia: Public involvement in co-designing community-based support

Whilst the support requirements of people diagnosed with young onset dementia are well-documented, less is known about what needs to be in place to provide age-appropriate care. To understand priorities for service planning and commissioning and to inform the design of a future study of community-based service delivery models, we held two rounds of discussions with four groups of people affected by young onset dementia (n = 31) and interviewed memory services (n = 3) and non-profit service providers (n = 7) in two sites in England. Discussions confirmed published evidence on support requirements, but also reframed priorities for support and suggested new approaches to dementia care at the community level. This paper argues that involving people with young onset dementia in the assessment of research findings in terms of what is important to them, and inviting suggestions for solutions, provides a way for co-designing services that address the challenges of accessing support for people affected by young onset dementia

Enhancing reuse of data and biological material in medical research : from FAIR to FAIR-Health

The known challenge of underutilization of data and biological material from biorepositories as potential resources formedical research has been the focus of discussion for over a decade. Recently developed guidelines for improved data availability and reusability—entitled FAIR Principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability)—are likely to address only parts of the problem. In this article,we argue that biologicalmaterial and data should be viewed as a unified resource. This approach would facilitate access to complete provenance information, which is a prerequisite for reproducibility and meaningful integration of the data. A unified view also allows for optimization of long-term storage strategies, as demonstrated in the case of biobanks.Wepropose an extension of the FAIR Principles to include the following additional components: (1) quality aspects related to research reproducibility and meaningful reuse of the data, (2) incentives to stimulate effective enrichment of data sets and biological material collections and its reuse on all levels, and (3) privacy-respecting approaches for working with the human material and data. These FAIR-Health principles should then be applied to both the biological material and data. We also propose the development of common guidelines for cloud architectures, due to the unprecedented growth of volume and breadth of medical data generation, as well as the associated need to process the data efficiently.peer-reviewe

Understanding the financial impact of a diagnosis of young onset dementia on individuals and families in the United Kingdom : results of an online survey

Although literature on postdiagnostic support for people affected by young onset dementia acknowledges financial concerns, this topic has remained underresearched. The aim of this study was to explore the financial impact of a diagnosis of young onset dementia on individuals and families. An online survey, comprising binary yes/no, multiple‐response and open‐ended questions, was codesigned with people living with young onset dementia. The survey was promoted via networks and online platforms. Data were collected from August to October 2019. Survey respondents across the United Kingdom (n = 55) who had received a diagnosis of young onset dementia were aged between 45 and 64, were at different stages of dementia and had been diagnosed with thirteen different types of dementia. Of the 55 respondents, 71% (n = 39) had received assistance from family members when completing the survey. The main financial impact of a diagnosis of young onset dementia resulted from premature loss of income and reduced and often deferred pension entitlements. In some cases, care‐costs became unaffordable. Lack of clarity of processes and procedures around needs assessments, carers' assessments and financial assessments by different organisations resulted in some families having to ask for legal advice and, in some cases, involved lengthy appeal processes. Future research needs to involve Adult Social Care and Third Sector organisations to help codesign and test financial management interventions to support people affected by this progressive health condition

Activity and Stability of Electrochemically and Thermally Treated Iridium for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Iridium is the main element in modern catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWE), which is predominantly due to its relatively good activity and tolerable stability in harsh PEMWE conditions. Limited abundance of iridium, however, poses limitations on widespread applications of these devices, in particular in the large scale conversion and storage of renewable energy. In this work we investigate if the electrocatalytic performance of iridium can be fine-tuned by thermal treatment of catalysts at different temperatures. The OER activity and the dissolution of two different iridium electrodes, viz. (a) flat metallic iridium surfaces prepared by electron beam physical vapor deposition (EBPVD) and (b) electrochemically prepared porous hydrous iridium oxide films (HIROF) are studied. The range of applied annealing temperatures is 100°C–600°C, with a general trend of decreasing activity and increasing stability the higher the temperature. Numerous peculiarities in the trend are however observed. These are discussed considering variations of oxide structure, morphology and electronic conductivity

Age-appropriate services for people diagnosed with young onset dementia (YOD): a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Literature agrees that post-diagnostic services for people living with young onset dementia (YOD) need to be age-appropriate, but there is insufficient evidence of 'what works' to inform service design and delivery. OBJECTIVE: To provide an evidence base of age-appropriate services and to review the perceived effectiveness of current interventions. METHODS: We undertook a systematic review including all types of research relating to interventions for YOD. We searched PubMed, CINHAL Plus, SCOPUS, EBSCO Host EJS, Social Care Online and Google Scholar, hand-searched journals and carried out lateral searches (July-October 2016). Included papers were synthesised qualitatively. Primary studies were critically appraised. RESULTS: Twenty articles (peer-reviewed [n = 10], descriptive accounts [n = 10]) discussing 195 participants (persons diagnosed with YOD [n = 94], caregivers [n = 91] and other [n = 10]) were identified for inclusion. Services enabled people with YOD to remain living at home for longer. However, service continuity was compromised by short-term project-based commissioning and ad-hoc service delivery. CONCLUSION: The evidence on the experience of living with YOD is not matched by research and the innovation needed to mitigate the impact of YOD. The inclusion of people with YOD and their caregivers in service design is critical when planning support in order to delay institutional care

End of life care interventions for people with dementia in care homes : addressing uncertainty within a framework for service delivery and evaluation

© 2015 Goodman et al. Open Access. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise statedMethods: The data from three studies on EoL care in care homes: (i) EVIDEM EoL , (ii) EPOCH , and (iii) TTT EoL were used to inform the development of the framework. All used mixed method designs and two had an intervention designed to improve how care home staff provided end of life care. The EVIDEM EoL and EPOCH studies tracked the care of older people in care homes over a period of 12 months. The TTT study collected resource use data of care home residents for three months, and surveyed decedents' notes for ten months, Results: Across the three studies, 29 care homes, 528 residents, 205 care home staff, and 44 visiting health care professionals participated. Analysis of showed that end of life interventions for people with dementia were characterised by uncertainty in three key areas; what treatment is the 'right' treatment, who should do what and when, and in which setting EoL care should be delivered and by whom? These uncertainties are conceptualised as Treatment uncertainty, Relational uncertainty and Service uncertainty. This paper proposes an emergent framework to inform the development and evaluation of EoL care interventions in care homes. Conclusion: For people with dementia living and dying in care homes, EoL interventions need to provide strategies that can accommodate or "hold" the inevitable and often unresolvable uncertainties of providing and receiving care in these settingsPeer reviewe

What are the Factors Influencing Service Provider Response to Working with Families Affected by Intimate Partner Violence and Abuse? A Qualitative Systematic Review of the Literature

Purpose Intimate partner violence and abuse (IPVA) is a major public health issue with long-term negative impacts on abused adults and affected children. Addressing this complex problem requires a multi-agency response, but barriers to effective joint working remain. This review aimed to understand the factors that influence multi-agency response to families who experience IPVA and to their children. Method We undertook a qualitative systematic review of international literature via five electronic databases and supplemented the review by citation searches, online searches of grey literature, and hand searches of relevant journals. We analyzed data thematically. Results The 31 identified papers reported findings from 29 unique studies undertaken in six countries and drew on data from 1049 professionals across health care, social care, the police, courts, schools and voluntary organisations. The main factors influencing service provider response to IPVA were siloed approaches to IPVA, particularly the separation between adult and childrens services. This influenced assessment and response to risk. Risk was also a consideration when child-protection staff were expected to work with perpetrators in ‘family settings’, even in lower-risk cases. Multi-agency working facilitated information sharing between agencies, an understanding of each other’s remit, and building trust. Conclusion Multi-agency collaboration needs to be supported by clear policies of interaction between agencies. Providers of child protection services, health, mental health, housing police and probation need to be supported by specialist training in IPVA, not only in high-risk cases, but also to relieve pressure on an already overstretched workforce

Biogenic Volatile Organic Compound and Respiratory CO2 Emissions after 13C-Labeling: Online Tracing of C Translocation Dynamics in Poplar Plants

Globally plants are the primary sink of atmospheric CO(2), but are also the major contributor of a large spectrum of atmospheric reactive hydrocarbons such as terpenes (e.g. isoprene) and other biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC). The prediction of plant carbon (C) uptake and atmospheric oxidation capacity are crucial to define the trajectory and consequences of global environmental changes. To achieve this, the biosynthesis of BVOC and the dynamics of C allocation and translocation in both plants and ecosystems are important.We combined tunable diode laser absorption spectrometry (TDLAS) and proton transfer reaction mass spectrometry (PTR-MS) for studying isoprene biosynthesis and following C fluxes within grey poplar (Populus x canescens) saplings. This was achieved by feeding either (13)CO(2) to leaves or (13)C-glucose to shoots via xylem uptake. The translocation of (13)CO(2) from the source to other plant parts could be traced by (13)C-labeled isoprene and respiratory (13)CO(2) emission.In intact plants, assimilated (13)CO(2) was rapidly translocated via the phloem to the roots within 1 hour, with an average phloem transport velocity of 20.3±2.5 cm h(-1). (13)C label was stored in the roots and partially reallocated to the plants' apical part one day after labeling, particularly in the absence of photosynthesis. The daily C loss as BVOC ranged between 1.6% in mature leaves and 7.0% in young leaves. Non-isoprene BVOC accounted under light conditions for half of the BVOC C loss in young leaves and one-third in mature leaves. The C loss as isoprene originated mainly (76-78%) from recently fixed CO(2), to a minor extent from xylem-transported sugars (7-11%) and from photosynthetic intermediates with slower turnover rates (8-11%).We quantified the plants' C loss as respiratory CO(2) and BVOC emissions, allowing in tandem with metabolic analysis to deepen our understanding of ecosystem C flux

RNAi-mediated suppression of isoprene emission in poplar transiently impacts phenolic metabolism under high temperature and high light intensities: a transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis

In plants, isoprene plays a dual role: (a) as thermo-protective agent proposed to prevent degradation of enzymes/membrane structures involved in photosynthesis, and (b) as reactive molecule reducing abiotic oxidative stress. The present work addresses the question whether suppression of isoprene emission interferes with genome wide transcription rates and metabolite fluxes in grey poplar (Populusxcanescens) throughout the growing season. Gene expression and metabolite profiles of isoprene emitting wild type plants and RNAi-mediated non-isoprene emitting poplars were compared by using poplar Affymetrix microarrays and non-targeted FT-ICR-MS (Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry). We observed a transcriptional down-regulation of genes encoding enzymes of phenylpropanoid regulatory and biosynthetic pathways, as well as distinct metabolic down-regulation of condensed tannins and anthocyanins, in non-isoprene emitting genotypes during July, when high temperature and light intensities possibly caused transient drought stress, as indicated by stomatal closure. Under these conditions leaves of non-isoprene emitting plants accumulated hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), a signaling molecule in stress response and negative regulator of anthocyanin biosynthesis. The absence of isoprene emission under high temperature and light stress resulted transiently in a new chemo(pheno)type with suppressed production of phenolic compounds. This may compromise inducible defenses and may render non-isoprene emitting poplars more susceptible to environmental stress