Crossbreeding for meat production in sheep

International audienc

Economic efficiency of pig breeding schemes. A breeding company view

International audienc

Tackling ageing continence through theory, tools & technology (TACT3)

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2012 Common Ground.After dementia, nothing is more feared by older people than the loss of continence. It is often the reason many people enter care facilities and can contribute to the breakdown of caring relationships. This paper reports on a three-year research project funded by the UK New Dynamics of Aging programme, which has explored three key issues in the predicament of maintaining continence from the “user’s” perspective. Firstly, understanding how continence services operated by the UK National Health Service can be improved to offer cost effective benefits that encourage people to report this sometimes embarrassing condition with confidence. Secondly, working directly with the US Simon Foundation, the project has developed user-requested, assistive devices that target the most embarrassing aspects of the condition, namely issues of personal odor control and urine leakage from continence pads. Lastly, understanding the challenges of managing continence in daily living outside of the home, with particular reference to accessing publicly accessible toilet facilities. The paper will highlight the research that has provided the basis for innovative design solutions.ESRC, EPSRC, BBSRC, MRC, and AHRC

Tackling Ageing Continence through Theory, Tools & Technology

Originally presented at ‘Aging and Society: An Interdisciplinary Conference’, University of California, Berkeley (2011), this article was double-blind peer reviewed, receiving scores of 96% and 73%. It outlines the interdisciplinary research of the cross-Research-Council-funded New Dynamics of Ageing Tackling Ageing Continence through Theory Tools & Technology (TACT3) project (2008–12), which brought together designers, social scientists, bio-engineers, chemists and care-management services to understand the challenges faced by an ageing population in the management of continence. Bichard’s Work Package, ‘Challenging Environmental Barriers to Continence’, explored the need for public toilet provision as essential for quality of life, health and well-being. It developed a life-course methodology that considered ageing from birth through to advanced age (0–101 years), and involved inclusive design research with members of the public and providers of facilities to assess public expectations and provider limitations in service provision. As co-investigator on TACT3, this research built on Bichard’s previous work for the VivaCity2020 consortium (Bichard REF Output 2). Whereas the VivaCity2020 work focused on architectural barriers in toilet provision, the TACT3 project examined the problem in service provision, and how, through inclusive design research, service-design solutions might be explored and implemented. Bichard’s contribution to the TACT3 project produced The Great British Public Toilet Map (http://greatbritishpublictoiletmap.rca.ac.uk/), a public participation website that provides information and locations of public toilets, encouraging members of the public to contact relevant local authorities that have not released information in the format of Open Data. Secondary analysis of TACT3 data for references to issues of personal safety and community initiative in toilet provision was used for the ESRC-funded Robust Accessible Toilets (RATs) project (2011) and produced Publicly Accessible Toilets: An Inclusive Design Guide (2011). Related published conference papers include those in ‘Cumulus 2010’ (China) and ‘Include 2011’ (UK)

Analysing decision logs to understand decision-making in serious crime investigations

Objective: To study decision-making by detectives when investigating serious crime through the examination of Decision Logs to explore hypothesis generation and evidence selection. Background: Decision logs are used to record and justify decisions made during serious crime investigations. The complexity of investigative decision-making is well documented, as are the errors associated with miscarriages of justice and inquests. The use of decision logs has not been the subject of an empirical investigation, yet they offer an important window into the nature of investigative decision-making in dynamic, time-critical environments. Method: A sample of decision logs from British police forces was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively to explore hypothesis generation and evidence selection by police detectives. Results: Analyses revealed diversity in documentation of decisions that did not correlate with case type, and identified significant limitations of the decision log approach to supporting investigative decision-making. Differences emerged between experienced and less experienced officers’ decision log records in exploration of alternative hypotheses, generation of hypotheses, and sources of evidential enquiry opened over phase of investigation. Conclusion: The practical use of decision logs is highly constrained by their format and context of use. Despite this, decision log records suggest that experienced detectives display strategic decision-making to avoid confirmation and satisficing that affect less experienced detectives. Application: Potential applications of this research include both training in case documentation and the development of new decision log media that encourage detectives, irrespective of experience, to generate multiple hypotheses and optimize the timely selection of evidence to test them

Forward to the past: reinventing intelligence-led policing in Britain

Drawing on archival, secondary material and primary research, this paper examines 'Total Policing', the strategy recently adopted by London's Metropolitan Police. It situates that analysis within a critical examination of other innovative policing strategies previously employed in Britain. It argues that the prospects for Total Policing depend upon the resolution of long-standing problems such as: the inadequacy and inefficiency of local intelligence work; the paucity of evidence for the success of commanders' previous efforts to harness together the component parts of their forces in pursuit of a single mission; and, above all, a seeming inability to learn the lessons of the past. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis

Q fever endocarditis masquerading as Mixed cryoglobulinemia type II. A case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND: The clinical manifestations of Q fever endocarditis are protean in nature. Mixed cryoglobulinemia type II is rarely a facet of the presenting clinical manifestations of Q fever endocarditis. CASE PRESENTATION: We report a case of a 65-year-old pensioner with such an association and review the literature. As transesophageal echocardiograms are usually normal and blood cultures are usually negative in Q fever endocarditis, many of the manifestations (fever, rash, glomerulonephritis/evidence of renal disease, low serum C4 complement component, presence of mixed type II cryoglobulin, constitutional symptoms as arthralgias and fatigue) can be attributed to Mixed cryoglobulinemia type II per se. The use of Classic Duke Endocarditis Service criteria does not always suffice for the diagnosis of Q fever. CONCLUSION: The application of the modified criteria proposed by Fournier et al for the improvement of the diagnosis of Q fever endocarditis will help to reach the diagnosis earlier and thus reduce the high mortality of the disease. We would like to stress the importance of ruling out the diagnosis of Q fever endocarditis in cases of mixed type II cryoglobulinemia

Disseminação do melhoramento genético em bovinos de corte

O esforço de produtores, pesquisadores e técnicos em geral, quanto ao melhoramento genético de bovino de corte, tem se concentrado fundamentalmente na avaliação, identificação e seleção dos reprodutores, e pouca atenção tem sido dada à disseminação desse material genético selecionado por intermédio do rebanho como um todo. A baixa taxa anual de mudança genética nos rebanhos pode ser, entre outras causas, indicativo de que, a despeito do sucesso isolado de alguns produtores em promover o melhoramento, a disseminação é feita de forma desordenada, fazendo com que o ganho genético obtido por alguns seja anulado pelo retrocesso de outros. Neste trabalho, a base teórica da disseminação do melhoramento genético em bovino de corte foi revisada, alguns modelos teóricos de estruturação piramidal da produção de carne foram analisados e as defasagens genéticas ("genetic lags"), calculadas.With respect to beef cattle breeding, the emphasis devoted by researchers, beef cattle producers and beef cattle experts has been, in general, focused on identification, evaluation and selection of sires. Little attention has been given to the pathway used to spread the genes from such sires throughout the population as a whole. The reported low annual genetic progress observed in several herds might suggest that, in spite of having some success in promoting genetic improvement as observed in isolated herds, such dissemination occurs in a disorganized manner. Such procedure might explain the observed situation where the progress accomplished by some herds is masked by the negative genetic trends observed in others. The theoretical basis of genetic dissemination in beef cattle is reviewed and some theoretical models involving the pyramidal structure of beef cattle production are analyzed, as well as the calculations of the genetic lags involved in each situation

Assessing the value of intangible benefits of property level flood risk adaptation (PLFRA) measures

© 2015, Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. Studies in the UK and elsewhere have identified that flooding can result in diverse impacts, ranging from significant financial costs (tangible) to social (intangible) impacts on households. At the same time, it is now clear that large-scale flood defence schemes are not the panacea to flood risk, and there is an increasing responsibility on property owners to protect their own properties. Hence, there is an emerging expectation for homeowners to take action in the form of investing in property level flood risk adaptation (PLFRA) measures to protect their properties. However, hitherto the level of uptake of such measures remains very low. The tangible financial benefits of investing in PLFRA measures are generally well understood and have been demonstrated to be cost beneficial for many properties at risk from frequent flooding. Importantly, these estimates tend to take little account of the value of the intangible benefits of PLFRA measures and therefore may be under estimating their full benefits. There remains a need to develop an improved understanding of these intangible benefits, and this research sets out to bridge this knowledge gap. Based on a synthesis of the literature, the contingent valuation method was selected as a means to value intangible impacts of flooding on households. A questionnaire survey of homeowners affected in the 2007 flooding was employed to elicit willingness to pay (WTP) values to avoid the intangible impacts of flooding on their households. The analysis of the questionnaire survey data revealed that the average WTP per household per year to avoid intangible flood impacts was £653. This therefore represents the value of the intangible benefits of investing in PLFRA measures and is significantly higher than previously estimated. This research builds on previous research in suggesting a higher value to the intangible impacts of flooding on households by assessing wider range of intangible impacts and focussing on more experienced individuals. Furthermore, the research indicates that factors which influence the WTP values were principally stress of flood, worrying about loss of house values, worrying about future flooding and age of respondents, with income showing a weak correlation. The establishment of a new value for the intangible impacts of flooding on households in the UK is helpful in the domain of flood risk management when evaluating the total benefits (tangible and intangible) of investing in flood protection measures, thus providing a robust assessment for decision-making on flood adaptation measures at an individual property level