Working for children and social change Tracing the endeavours of three Scottish lady teachers who immigrated to New Zealand in the early 20th century

This is a story of three lady teachers whose teaching careers and endeavours on behalf of women and children have been mainly forgotten. It is an incomplete story, lacking in photographic records and collated from a myriad of fragmentary news clippings, writings, sightings and reports gathered over some years. Misses Agnes Inkpen and Isabella Jamieson emigrated together from Edinburgh, Scotland, to New Zealand in 1908. Miss Isabel Little, also from Edinburgh emigrated in 1912. All three women were primary school teachers, trained in Edinburgh, with interests and/or qualifications in kindergarten and teaching infant classes. This was a long journey for three single but intrepid women to undertake from a long established and reputable education system in Scotland to the fledgling school infrastructure in New Zealand. But there were opportunities for single women teachers in a country that gave the vote to women in 1893. This was a new century and a new country interested in social reform and opportunities for all. The careers of our three teachers flourished in this environment. Their arrival coincided with the growth of the kindergarten movement in New Zealand and a school system cautiously welcoming of the modern methods of new education

Optimism and pasture access in dairy cows

Allowing dairy cattle to access pasture can promote natural behaviour and improve their health. However, the psychological benefits are poorly understood. We compared a cognitive indicator of emotion in cattle either with or without pasture access. In a crossover experiment, 29 Holstein–Friesian dairy cows had 18 days of overnight pasture access and 18 days of full-time indoor housing. To assess emotional wellbeing, we tested cows on a spatial judgement bias task. Subjects learnt to approach a rewarded bucket location, but not approach another, unrewarded bucket location. We then presented cows with three “probe” buckets intermediate between the trained locations. Approaching the probes reflected an expectation of reward under ambiguity—an “optimistic” judgement bias, suggesting positive emotional states. We analysed the data using linear mixed-effects models. There were no treatment differences in latency to approach the probe buckets, but cows approached the known rewarded bucket slower when they had pasture access than when they were indoors full-time. Our results indicate that, compared to cattle housed indoors, cattle with pasture access display less anticipatory behaviour towards a known reward. This reduced reward anticipation suggests that pasture is a more rewarding environment, which may induce more positive emotional states than full-time housing

Did the UK's public health Shielding policy protect the clinically extremely vulnerable during the Covid-19 pandemic in Wales? Results of EVITE Immunity, a link data retrospective study

Introduction The UK shielding policy intended to protect people at highest risk of harm from COVID-19 infection. We aimed to describe intervention effects in Wales at 1 year. Methods Retrospective comparison of linked demographic and clinical data for cohorts comprising people identified for shielding from 23rd March to 21st May 2020; and the rest of the population. Health records were extracted with event dates between 23rd March 2020 and 22nd March 2021 for the comparator cohort and from the date of inclusion until one year later for the shielded cohort. Results The shielded cohort included 117,415 people, with 3,086,385 in the comparator cohort. The largest clinical categories in the shielded cohort were severe respiratory condition (35.5%), immunosuppressive therapy (25.9%) and cancer (18.6%). People in the shielded cohort were more likely to be female, aged >= 50, living in relatively deprived areas, care home residents and frail. The proportion of people tested for COVID-19 was higher in the shielded cohort (OR 1.616; 95% CI 1.597 -1.637), with lower positivity rate IRR 0.716 (95% CI 0.697 – 0.736). The known infection rate was higher in the shielded cohort (5.9% versus 5.7%). People in the shielded cohort were more likely to die (OR 3.683; 95% CI: 3.583 – 3.786); have a critical care admission (OR 3.339; 95% CI: 3.111 – 3.583), hospital emergency admission (OR 2.883; 95% CI: 2.837 – 2.930), Emergency Department attendance (OR 1.893; 95% CI: 1.867 – 1.919) and Common Mental Disorder (OR 1.762; 95% CI: 1.735 – 1.789). Conclusion Deaths and healthcare utilisation were higher amongst shielded people than the general population, as would be expected in the sicker population. Differences in testing rates, deprivation and pre-existing health are potential confounders, however lack of clear impact on infection rates raises questions about the success of shielding and indicates that further research is required to fully evaluate this national policy intervention

Evaluation of the shielding initiative in Wales (EVITE Immunity): protocol for a quasiexperimental study

Introduction: Shielding aimed to protect those predicted to be at highest risk from COVID-19 and was uniquely implemented in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. Clinically extremely vulnerable people identified through algorithms and screening of routine National Health Service (NHS) data were individually and strongly advised to stay at home and strictly self-isolate even from others in their household. This study will generate a logic model of the intervention and evaluate the effects and costs of shielding to inform policy development and delivery during future pandemics. Methods and analysis: This is a quasiexperimental study undertaken in Wales where records for people who were identified for shielding were already anonymously linked into integrated data systems for public health decision-making. We will: interview policy-makers to understand rationale for shielding advice to inform analysis and interpretation of results; use anonymised individual-level data to select people identified for shielding advice in March 2020 and a matched cohort, from routine electronic health data sources, to compare outcomes; survey a stratified random sample of each group about activities and quality of life at 12 months; use routine and newly collected blood data to assess immunity; interview people who were identified for shielding and their carers and NHS staff who delivered healthcare during shielding, to explore compliance and experiences; collect healthcare resource use data to calculate implementation costs and cost–consequences. Our team includes people who were shielding, who used their experience to help design and deliver this study. Ethics and dissemination: The study has received approval from the Newcastle North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee (IRAS 295050). We will disseminate results directly to UK government policy-makers, publish in peer-reviewed journals, present at scientific and policy conferences and share accessible summaries of results online and through public and patient networks

Early development of infants with neurofibromatosis type 1: a case series

Background Prospective studies of infants at familial risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have yielded insights into the earliest signs of the disorder but represent heterogeneous samples of unclear aetiology. Complementing this approach by studying cohorts of infants with monogenic syndromes associated with high rates of ASD offers the opportunity to elucidate the factors that lead to ASD. Methods We present the first report from a prospective study of ten 10-month-old infants with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), a monogenic disorder with high prevalence of ASD or ASD symptomatology. We compared data from infants with NF1 to a large cohort of infants at familial risk for ASD, separated by outcome at age 3 of ASD (n = 34), atypical development (n = 44), or typical development (n = 89), and low-risk controls (n = 75). Domains assessed at 10 months by parent report and examiner observation include cognitive and adaptive function, sensory processing, social engagement, and temperament. Results Infants with NF1 showed striking impairments in motor functioning relative to low-risk infants; this pattern was seen in infants with later ASD from the familial cohort (HR-ASD). Both infants with NF1 and the HR-ASD group showed communication delays relative to low-risk infants. Conclusions Ten-month-old infants with NF1 show a range of developmental difficulties that were particularly striking in motor and communication domains. As with HR-ASD infants, social skills at this age were not notably impaired. This is some of the first information on early neurodevelopment in NF1. Strong inferences are limited by the sample size, but the findings suggest implications for early comparative developmental science and highlight motor functioning as an important domain to inform the development of relevant animal models. The findings have clinical implications in indicating an important focus for early surveillance and remediation in this early diagnosed genetic disorder

Early differences in auditory processing relate to Autism Spectrum Disorder traits in infants with Neurofibromatosis Type I

Abstract: Background: Sensory modulation difficulties are common in children with conditions such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and could contribute to other social and non-social symptoms. Positing a causal role for sensory processing differences requires observing atypical sensory reactivity prior to the emergence of other symptoms, which can be achieved through prospective studies. Methods: In this longitudinal study, we examined auditory repetition suppression and change detection at 5 and 10 months in infants with and without Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1), a condition associated with higher likelihood of developing ASD. Results: In typically developing infants, suppression to vowel repetition and enhanced responses to vowel/pitch change decreased with age over posterior regions, becoming more frontally specific; age-related change was diminished in the NF1 group. Whilst both groups detected changes in vowel and pitch, the NF1 group were largely slower to show a differentiated neural response. Auditory responses did not relate to later language, but were related to later ASD traits. Conclusions: These findings represent the first demonstration of atypical brain responses to sounds in infants with NF1 and suggest they may relate to the likelihood of later ASD

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor Romidepsin Induces HIV Expression in CD4 T Cells from Patients on Suppressive Antiretroviral Therapy at Concentrations Achieved by Clinical Dosing

Persistent latent reservoir of replication-competent proviruses in memory CD4 T cells is a major obstacle to curing HIV infection. Pharmacological activation of HIV expression in latently infected cells is being explored as one of the strategies to deplete the latent HIV reservoir. In this study, we characterized the ability of romidepsin (RMD), a histone deacetylase inhibitor approved for the treatment of T-cell lymphomas, to activate the expression of latent HIV. In an in vitro T-cell model of HIV latency, RMD was the most potent inducer of HIV (EC50 = 4.5 nM) compared with vorinostat (VOR; EC50 = 3,950 nM) and other histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors in clinical development including panobinostat (PNB; EC50 = 10 nM). The HIV induction potencies of RMD, VOR, and PNB paralleled their inhibitory activities against multiple human HDAC isoenzymes. In both resting and memory CD4 T cells isolated from HIV-infected patients on suppressive combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), a 4-hour exposure to 40 nM RMD induced a mean 6-fold increase in intracellular HIV RNA levels, whereas a 24-hour treatment with 1 μM VOR resulted in 2- to 3-fold increases. RMD-induced intracellular HIV RNA expression persisted for 48 hours and correlated with sustained inhibition of cell-associated HDAC activity. By comparison, the induction of HIV RNA by VOR and PNB was transient and diminished after 24 hours. RMD also increased levels of extracellular HIV RNA and virions from both memory and resting CD4 T-cell cultures. The activation of HIV expression was observed at RMD concentrations below the drug plasma levels achieved by doses used in patients treated for T-cell lymphomas. In conclusion, RMD induces HIV expression ex vivo at concentrations that can be achieved clinically, indicating that the drug may reactivate latent HIV in patients on suppressive cART

Occupational Health and Safety in the Construction Industry: A Review of Work Practices

The high number of fatalities in the construction industry shows the needs for improvement in occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) measures. Civil Engineer, being regarded as a member of 'top tier' management, is prone to have knowledge of OH&S and factors affecting it in the workplace. However, the OH&S training is not always integrated in the tertiary education. The primary intent of this research is to promote OH&S awareness among engineers. In doing so, understanding the nature of the work practices in the construction industry is necessary. This paper reviews the literature on the work practices in the construction industry and compares with the manufacturing industry. The main objective is to highlight the unique work practices within the construction industry that make it vulnerable to poor OH&S outcomes. In this study, the main differences between the two industries, including the use of subcontracting, fatigue management, training and safety culture have been investigated. Based on this study, 40 recommendations have been collated for the improvement of OH&S standard of construction. These recommendations are then analyzed and categorized on the basis of their ease and cost of implementation, as well as their signicance of impact on the OH&S outcomes. The recommendations with extreme priority are presented. It is proposed that these recommendations are incorporated in the safety management system of the principal contractor and subcontractor

“So far from home”: Tracing the endeavours of three Froebel teachers from Edinburgh who migrated to New Zealand in the early 20th century, 2020

This is an overview essay setting the context of Scottish - New Zealand education links in colonial times that shape our story of three infant teachers who arrived in New Zealand in the early 20th century. As historians of early childhood institutions in New Zealand our researches, collectively and separately, have included the archival unravelling and ‘discovery’ of the travels of early childhood people and ideas across transnational borders. Some teachers travelled from New Zealand to seek and appraise new ventures, experiments and ideas. Other teachers brought their experience and ideas to the distant British colony of New Zealand in the ‘whirlwind’ of the ‘settler revolution’ described by historian James Belich in his book "Replenishing the Earth" (2009). Our infant teachers from Edinburgh – Isabel Little, Agnes Inkpen and Isabella Jamieson - were exemplars of this ‘whirlwind’ arriving in New Zealand in the early years of the 20th century to the new Dominion of Britain proclaimed in 1907. A century ago they travelled with their ‘modern methods’ to New Zealand and embarked on a range of endeavours for the betterment of children and women. Their stories are presented as separate essays intended initially as presentations at the International Froebel Society Conference in Edinburgh in June 2020