The transformative potential of international service-learning at a university with a Christian foundation in the UK

This article draws upon the findings of a study at Liverpool Hope University (LHU) into the transformative nature of International Service-Learning (ISL) experiences for student participants. This research is concerned with the implications of these findings for professional practice, in particular how ISL is constructed in Higher Education policy and practice. Recognising the problematic nature of this endeavor, this article responds to a call for discussion around pedagogical approaches underpinning counter-cultural and critical service programmes aligned with the radical principles of the Catholic social teaching. This study is grounded in a holistic conceptualisation of transformative learning that demands looking beyond an epistemological process that involves shifts in worldview and habits of mind to an ontological process that accounts for changes to our being in the world. It investigated how LHU students describe their ongoing experience of ISL and explored the conditions for learning and the associated transformative processes and outcomes in this context. Data analysis involved phenomenological description, constant comparative thematic analysis followed by a critical, hermeneutical analysis. This article will explicate the themes of moral and spiritual learning that emerged as part of a broader framework. In particular, it was found that the development of authentic relationships between travelling companions, accompanying tutors and partners overseas is central to learning that is reciprocated and provides a model of the transformative process in this context. This article concludes that this presents a pedagogical approach grounded in social justice that enables ISL to reach its transformative potential

Diversity of Tanaidacea (Crustacea: Peracarida) in the World's Oceans – How Far Have We Come?

Tanaidaceans are small peracarid crustaceans which occur in all marine habitats, over the full range of depths, and rarely into fresh waters. Yet they have no obligate dispersive phase in their life-cycle. Populations are thus inevitably isolated, and allopatric speciation and high regional diversity are inevitable; cosmopolitan distributions are considered to be unlikely or non-existent. Options for passive dispersion are discussed. Tanaidaceans appear to have first evolved in shallow waters, the region of greatest diversification of the Apseudomorpha and some tanaidomorph families, while in deeper waters the apseudomorphs have subsequently evolved two or three distinct phyletic lines. The Neotanaidomorpha has evolved separately and diversified globally in deep waters, and the Tanaidomorpha has undergone the greatest evolution, diversification and adaptation, to the point where some of the deep-water taxa are recolonizing shallow waters. Analysis of their geographic distribution shows some level of regional isolation, but suffers from inclusion of polyphyletic taxa and a general lack of data, particularly for deep waters. It is concluded that the diversity of the tanaidomorphs in deeper waters and in certain ocean regions remains to be discovered; that the smaller taxa are largely understudied; and that numerous cryptic species remain to be distinguished. Thus the number of species currently recognized is likely to be an order of magnitude too low, and globally the Tanaidacea potentially rival the Amphipoda and Isopoda in diversity

Effectiveness of a quality improvement collaborative in reducing time to surgery for patients requiring emergency cholecystectomy.

Background:Acute gallstone disease is a high-volume emergency general surgery presentation with wide variations in the quality of care provided across the UK. This controlled cohort evaluation assessed whether participation in a quality improvement collaborative approach reduced time to surgery for patients with acute gallstone disease to fewer than 8 days from presentation, in line with national guidance. Methods:Patients admitted to hospital with acute biliary conditions in England and Wales between 1 April 2014 and 31 December 2017 were identified from Hospital Episode Statistics data. Time series of quarterly activity were produced for the Cholecystectomy Quality Improvement Collaborative (Chole-QuIC) and all other acute National Health Service hospitals (control group). A negative binomial regression model was used to compare the proportion of patients having surgery within 8 days in the baseline and intervention periods. Results:Of 13 sites invited to join Chole-QuIC, 12 participated throughout the collaborative, which ran from October 2016 to January 2018. Of 7944 admissions, 1160 patients had a cholecystectomy within 8 days of admission, a significant improvement (P < 0·050) from baseline performance. This represented a relative change of 1·56 (95 per cent c.i. 1·38 to 1·75), compared with 1·08 for the control group. At the individual site level, eight of the 12 Chole-QuIC sites showed a significant improvement (P < 0·050), with four sites increasing their 8-day surgery rate to over 20 per cent of all emergency admissions, well above the mean of 15·3 per cent for control hospitals. Conclusion:A surgeon-led quality improvement collaborative approach improved care for patients requiring emergency cholecystectomy

Mental health and wellbeing in parents of excessively crying infants: prospective evaluation of a support package

Background During the first four months of age, approximately 20% of infants cry a lot without an apparent reason. Most research has targeted the crying and its causes, but there is a need for equal attention to the impact of the crying on parents and subsequent outcomes. This study reports the findings from a prospective evaluation of a package of materials designed to support the wellbeing and mental health of parents who judge their infant to be crying excessively. The resulting ‘Surviving Crying’ package comprised a website, printed materials, and a programme of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy - based support sessions delivered to parents by a qualified practitioner. It was designed to be suitable for National Health Service (NHS) use. Methods Parents were referred to the study by NHS Health Visitors or Community Public Health Nurses. Fifty seven parents of excessively crying babies received the support package and provided rating scale measures of depression, anxiety, frustration because of the crying, and other measures before receiving the support package, together with outcome measures afterwards. Results Significant reductions in depression and anxiety were found with the number of parents meeting clinical criteria for depression or anxiety halving between baseline and outcome. These improvements were not explained by changes in infant crying. Reductions also occurred in the number of parents reporting the crying to be a large or severe problem (from 28 to 3 parents) or feeling very or extremely frustrated by the crying (from 31 to 1 parent). Other findings included increases in parents’ confidence, knowledge of infant crying and improvements in parents’ sleep. Conclusions The findings suggest that the Surviving Crying package may be effective in supporting the wellbeing and mental health of parents of excessively crying babies. Further, large-scale controlled trials of the package in NHS settings are warranted

Семантические барьеры в деловой коммуникации

Статья из специализированного выпуска научного журнала "Культура народов Причерноморья", материалы которого объединены общей темой "Язык и Мир" и посвящены общим вопросам Языкознания и приурочены к 80-летию со дня рождения Николая Александровича Рудякова.Стаття із спеціалізованого випуску наукового журналу "Культура народов Причерноморья", матеріали якого поєднані загальною темою "Мова і Світ" і присвячені загальним питанням мовознавства і приурочені до 80-річчя з дня народження Миколи Олександровича Рудякова

Properties of electrons scattered on a strong plane electromagnetic wave with a linear polarization: classical treatment

The relations among the components of the exit momenta of ultrarelativistic electrons scattered on a strong electromagnetic wave of a low (optical) frequency and linear polarization are established using the exact solutions to the equations of motion with radiation reaction included (the Landau-Lifshitz equation). It is found that the momentum components of the electrons traversed the electromagnetic wave depend weakly on the initial values of the momenta. These electrons are mostly scattered at the small angles to the direction of propagation of the electromagnetic wave. The maximum Lorentz factor of the electrons crossed the electromagnetic wave is proportional to the work done by the electromagnetic field and is independent of the initial momenta. The momentum component parallel to the electric field strength vector of the electromagnetic wave is determined only by the diameter of the laser beam measured in the units of the classical electron radius. As for the reflected electrons, they for the most part lose the energy, but remain relativistic. There is a reflection law for these electrons that relates the incident and the reflection angles and is independent of any parameters.Comment: 12 pp, 3 fig

Pilot study of a social network intervention for heroin users in opiate substitution treatment: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background Research indicates that 3% of people receiving opiate substitution treatment (OST) in the UK manage to achieve abstinence from all prescribed and illicit drugs within 3 years of commencing treatment, and there is concern that treatment services have become skilled at engaging people but not at helping them to enter a stage of recovery and drug abstinence. The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse recommends the involvement of families and wider social networks in supporting drug users’ psychological treatment, and this pilot randomized controlled trial aims to evaluate the impact of a social network-focused intervention for patients receiving OST. Methods and design In this two-site, early phase, randomized controlled trial, a total of 120 patients receiving OST will be recruited and randomized to receive one of three treatments: 1) Brief Social Behavior and Network Therapy (B-SBNT), 2) Personal Goal Setting (PGS) or 3) treatment as usual. Randomization will take place following baseline assessment. Participants allocated to receive B-SBNT or PGS will continue to receive the same treatment that is routinely provided by drug treatment services, plus four additional sessions of either intervention. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, 3 and 12 months. The primary outcome will be assessment of illicit heroin use, measured by both urinary analysis and self-report. Secondary outcomes involve assessment of dependence, psychological symptoms, social satisfaction, motivation to change, quality of life and therapeutic engagement. Family members (n = 120) of patients involved in the trial will also be assessed to measure the level of symptoms, coping and the impact of the addiction problem on the family member at baseline, 3 and 12 months. Discussion This study will provide experimental data regarding the feasibility and efficacy of implementing a social network intervention within routine drug treatment services in the UK National Health Service. The study will explore the impact of the intervention on both patients receiving drug treatment and their family members. Trial registration Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN22608399 ISRCTN22608399 registration: 27/04/2012 Date of first randomisation: 14/08/201

Thomson and Compton scattering with an intense laser pulse

Our paper concerns the scattering of intense laser radiation on free electrons and it is focused on the relation between nonlinear Compton and nonlinear Thomson scattering. The analysis is performed for a laser field modeled by an ideal pulse with a finite duration, a fixed direction of propagation and indefinitely extended in the plane perpendicular to it. We derive the classical limit of the quantum spectral and angular distribution of the emitted radiation, for an arbitrary polarization of the laser pulse. We also rederive our result directly, in the framework of classical electrodynamics, obtaining, at the same time, the distribution for the emitted radiation with a well defined polarization. The results reduce to those established by Krafft et al. [Phys. Rev. E 72, 056502 (2005)] in the particular case of linear polarization of the pulse, orthogonal to the initial electron momentum. Conditions in which the differences between classical and quantum results are visible are discussed and illustrated by graphs

Towards an ethical ecology of international service learning

International Service-Learning (ISL) is a pedagogical activity that seeks to blend student learning with community engagement overseas and the development of a more just society. ISL programmes have grown as educational institutions and non-governmental organisations have sought to achieve the goal of developing ‘global citizens’. However, Service Learning (SL) in general and International Service-Learning (ISL) in particular remain deeply under theorised. These educational initiatives provide policy makers with a practical response to their quest for a ‘Big Society’and present alluring pedagogical approaches for Universities as they react to reforms in Higher Education and seek to enhance both the student learning experience and graduate employability. After outlining the development of ISL in policy and practice, this paper draws on the rich tradition of ISL at one British university to argue that ISL is a form of engagement that has the potential to be ethical in character although we identify a number of factors that militate against this. Our contention is that ISL which promotes rationaland instrumental learning represents a deficit model and we therefore conceptualise ISL here as a transformative learning experience that evinces distinctly aesthetic and even spiritual dimensions. Upon this theoretical groundwork we lay the foundations for conceptualizing ISL in ways that ensure its ethical integrity

Ice flux divergence anomalies on 79north Glacier, Greenland

International audienc