Grimstone v Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust: (it's not) hip to be square

In Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board [2015] UKSC 11 the Supreme Court redefined the standard of disclosure in informed consent to medical treatment, rejecting the application of the doctor-focused Bolam standard in favour of one focused on what was significant to patients. In Grimstone v Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust [2015] EWHC 3756 (QB), despite acknowledging a new standard now applied, McGowan J nevertheless used the Bolam test to determine liability for non-disclosure. This illustrates ongoing judicial deference to the medical profession and this case commentary explores that decision and its implication

(SNP006) Louise Wood Austin interviewed by John D. Dooms

Records the reminiscences of Louise Wood Austin, who grew up in Sugar Hollow, Virginia, prior to the establishment of Shenandoah National Park in 1934. Mrs. Austin and her interviewer, John Dooms, returned to the section of Shenandoah National Park where her family home stood until 1941. Describes her home life and family history, including members of her extended family who represent a cross section of local family names. Among the topics discussed are the growing, harvesting and preserving of food, raising livestock, home remedies and folk medicine. Recalls cattle drives from Ivy, Va., to summer pastures in Jarman Gap, itinerant Syrian peddlers, midwives and square dances. Discusses several small businesses operated by her father and uncles, including a blacksmith shop, distillery and coffin making shop.https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/snp/1119/thumbnail.jp

La confiance entre les enseignants de cégep : dynamique caractérisant le lien entre le leadership transformationnel des dirigeants et l’efficacité collective des enseignants

Affiche présentée dans le cadre du Colloque de l'ARC, «La culture de la recherche au collégial», dans le cadre du 82e Congrès de l'Acfas, Université Concordia, Montréal, le 14 mai 2014.L’efficacité collective des enseignants, qui se définit comme la croyance des membres de ce groupe dans leur capacité de performer ensemble et d’atteindre un objectif, est reconnue comme un facteur clé de la réussite des étudiants. Néanmoins, nous en savons peu sur ses déterminants, ce qui est d’ailleurs déploré par les chercheurs. Deux facteurs ont fait l’objet d’une attention particulière dans le cadre de notre étude : le leadership transformationnel des dirigeants et la confiance entre les enseignants. Le premier est une composante clé ancrée dans la confiance et permettant de développer l’organisation avec une vision à long terme. Le deuxième s’établit avec le temps et les interactions répétées entre les collègues, et est considéré comme un facteur aussi important en milieu scolaire qu’en milieu organisationnel. Cette étude a été réalisée auprès de 436 enseignants provenant de huit cégeps. Deux hypothèses ont été validées : (1) le leadership transformationnel est positivement lié à l’efficacité collective des enseignants et (2) la confiance entre les enseignants agit à titre de variable médiatrice entre le leadership transformationnel et l’efficacité collective. Ainsi, à travers les liens de confiance qui se créent entre les collègues, le leadership des dirigeants joue un rôle important dans la croyance des enseignants quant à leur capacité à atteindre un objectif. Les implications théoriques et pratiques de cette étude seront abordées lors de la présentation

Hii Chii Kok v (1) Ooi Peng Jin London Lucien; (2) National Cancer Centre:Modifying Montgomery

In Hii Chii Kok v (1) Ooi Peng Jin London Lucien; (2) National Cancer Centre, the Singapore Court of Appeal followed the approach of other Commonwealth jurisdictions by rejecting the application of Bolam as the standard of disclosure in claims concerning informed consent to medical treatment. Instead, the court employed a modified version of the standard of disclosure adopted in Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board. While broadly welcomed, Montgomery has been criticised for its lack of clarity on the application of some elements of its disclosure standard. In particular, questions remain as to: what factors should be taken into account within the reasonable and particular patient limbs of the test of materiality; how will the ‘reasonableness’ of alternative treatments be determined; and what is the scope of the therapeutic exception. This case commentary explores how Hii’s analysis of the modified standard offers insights into how those elements of Montgomery could be interpreted in the future

Correia, Diamond and the Chester Exception: vindicating patient autonomy?

In Chester v Afshar [2004], the House of Lords stated they were departing from the traditional rules of causation in order to vindicate the patient’s right of autonomy. Subsequent judgments in the Court of Appeal expressed concerns over the lack of clarity of the legal principles to be derived from that judgment. In Correia v University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust [2017] and Diamond v Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust [2019], however, the Court of Appeal sought to clarify the scope and limits of Chester. This commentary sets out the scope and limits of Chester in light of those judgments and considers the extent to which they can be said to be vindicating patient autonomy. Drawing upon Coggon’s typology of autonomy, it concludes that future judgments should utilise that typology to explicate which understanding of autonomy they are seeking to protect

Evaluation and optimisation of diamond-like carbon for tribological applications

Fuel economy and environmental protection have become increasingly important over the last few decades and this has led to the demand for higher efficiency within the automotive sector. Non-ferrous coatings with excellent and unique tribological properties, intended to increase efficiency by lowering friction and wear internally within the car engine are becoming increasingly more prevalent within this sector. Since current lubrication practices are geared towards ferrous materials, it is important to determine the effect that lubricants have on non-traditional coatings. In this study, three Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) coatings are assessed for their viability within this application, more specifically for the cam-follower interface. The coatings are an amorphous hydrogenated Diamond-Like Carbon and a silicon doped amorphous hydrogenated Diamond-Like Carbon, both produced at the University of Leeds, using a Hauzer Flexicoat 850 deposition system, and a tungsten doped Diamond-Like Carbon coating from Oerlikon Balzers, type Balanit C*. The coatings are characterised to quantify their hardness, thickness, elastic modulus and sp2 content before being tribologically tested in group III base oil and fully formulated oil containing the anti-wear additive zinc dialkyldithiophosphate on a pin-on-reciprocating plate tribometer. The three DLCs are tested against a cast iron counter-body and analysed for wear and the presence of a phosphate tribo-film. The nature of growth of the tribo-film is commonly known for ferrous contacts but much uncertainty still remains for DLC lubricated contacts. The Hauzer Flexicoat 850 system houses within it two microwave sources which aid in the Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition (PECVD) of DLC. This new technology offers potentially improved coatings for tribological coatings and the ability to tailor the coating for a particular lubricant. In this study the microwave PECVD process is tested to determine its viability within a commercial setting, and to discover the effect of different processing parameters on the mechanical properties of the coatings. The parameters of particular interest are the bias voltage, gas ratio and power of the microwave sources. Preliminary tests were undertaken in order to determine the optimum position and other fundamental deposition properties before the full scale tests began. This study has shown that a-C:H DLC is the most suitable coating of those tested here for implementation into this application. The Si-DLC and W-DLC were not compatible with the lubricants or the system as will be shown. The lubricant additive ZDDP is important in ferrous systems, and it is shown here to be useful within a DLC environment The microwave DLC coatings have demonstrated good mechanical properties, in particular a high hardness. They have proven to be very promising, and with a substantial reduction in deposition time, demonstrate their potential commercial viability for tribological application

Transformative learning relationships and the adult educator’s countertransference: a Jungian arts-based duoethnography

Transformative learning theory developed from Jack Mezirow’s seminal work on perspective transformation, is a predominant paradigm within adult education scholarship. Recent developments include Jungian perspectives in transformative learning that challenge the dominance of Mezirow’s rational conceptualisation and the exclusion of non-rational and unconscious aspects of learning. Whilst Jungian contributors elevate the role of the unconscious in transformative learning theory, scant attention is paid to the unconscious dynamics between educator and adult learner set within an intersubjective matrix. What is absent is any mention that feelings stirred up in the process of transformative learning might belong within a reciprocal relationship. Jung, who is arguably the pioneer of countertransference, offers a definite point of view about the importance of the subjective responses of the analyst and his/her ability to be influenced and impacted by the client. If the analyst is to transform others, then the analyst needs to be transformed. This relationship of mutual transformation is reconceptualised as a transformative learning relationship. A transformative learning relationship provides an intersubjective frame for exploring countertransferences and the emotional experience of the adult educator. The devised research method of collaborative imaginative engagement is an innovative post-Jungian extension of Jung’s method of active imagination, that involves two adult educators making and working with images of countertransference. The findings are presented as an arts-based duoethnographic portrayal of a co- individuation process between two adult educators. This duoethnographic process of co-individuation prototypes transformative reciprocity within the educator/learner relationship. This research addresses the imbalance or ‘one sidedness’ within transformative learning theory, that overlooks the educator’s subjective and intersubjective experience in favour of the learner’s experience. In doing so, the research contributes a more holistic and collaborative understanding of transformative learning that shows how both learner and educator can be inextricably bound together through a process of mutual transformation