Broadening our Understanding of Adversarial Growth: The Contribution of Narrative Methods

After adversity, individuals sometimes report adversarial growth - positive changes in their identity, relationships, and worldviews. We examined how narrative methods enhanced understanding of adversarial growth compared to standard questionnaires. Participants (N = 411) from college and community samples reported on their well-being, wrote a narrative about a highly challenging experience, and answered questionnaires on adversarial growth. Results showed that adversarial growth coded in narratives was positively associated with widely used self-report questionnaires of adversarial growth. Unexpectedly, narrative growth did not predict incremental validity in well-being outcomes compared to standard questionnaires. We found unique expressions of adversarial growth in a qualitative analysis of the narratives. We discuss the added value of using narratives for the assessment of adversarial growth

Effects of lameness treatment for claw horn lesions on lying behaviour in dairy cows

Lameness affects lying behaviour in dairy cattle, increasing total lying time and the number of lying bouts. However, there is limited information about the effect of lameness treatment on dairy cow behaviour. This study investigated the effect of four lameness treatments on lying behaviour (total lying time, number of bouts, average bout duration and laterality of lying) in dairy cows. Forty-four newly lame cows were treated randomly with one of four treatment protocols: trim only, trim + block, trim + NSAID, and trim + block + NSAID. Thirty-four non-lame control cows were matched by parity, days in milk, and farm-pen. Each cow had an accelerometer attached to the hind leg, lying behaviour data was collected over 5 days immediately after treatment and analysed using multilevel regression models. Lame cows in three of the four treatment groups demonstrated no increase in lying time compared to non-lame controls. This finding is contrary to previous work and may reflect the enrolment criteria which favoured the selection of cows with mild disease i.e. before the behavioural impacts of lameness had manifested. Only cows in the treatment group which received a therapeutic trim and a foot block saw higher lying times post treatment. As this effect was not apparent in the group which received a NSAID in addition to a trim and a foot block, we hypothesise that this effect is caused by discomfort associated with the block. Where foot blocks are administered as part of treatment protocols, we propose that NSAIDs should be administered concurrently to alleviate the behavioural changes and likely discomfort associated with this treatment

Developing the framework for a borderlands strategy: a report produced by the Universities of Northumbria and Cumbria

The 2013 report, Borderlands: can the North East and Cumbria benefit from greater Scottish Autonomy?, recommended a new approach to boosting economic development across the Borderland area covered by Northumberland, Cumbria, Carlisle, Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders councils. The report highlighted that the Borderlands have much in common: a shared history; the daily cross-border flows of people for work, shopping or family visits; and also shared experiences of economic and social change which has produced a number of common challenges and opportunities which lend themselves to a collaborative response. In April 2015, The Institute of Local Governance (on behalf of Northumberland County Council and the wider Borderlands Steering Group) commissioned the Universities of Cumbria and Northumbria to produce a detailed Framework Document that would underpin the development of a collaborative approach to economic development in the Borderlands. This study would provide comparative economic and social data which would serve as an in-depth and independent evidence base on which a collaborative approach for the Borderlands could be developed and promoted by the combined efforts of the 5 councils and their partners. The study would review the wide range of existing economic strategies operating across the Borderlands, identifying: priorities; key sectors; assets; challenges, and opportunities for collaboration particularly in relation to Energy, Forestry, Tourism, and Connectivity

New Directions in Planning: Beyond Localism

This report brings together a series of contributions from major figures in urban and rural planning to consider the challenges and opportunities facing an incoming Labour Government in 2015