Longitudinal study of local authority child and family social workers (wave 1) Findings from a 5 year study of local authority child and family social workers in England.

The longitudinal study investigates recruitment, retention and career progression in local authority child and family social work over 5 years. This is the first of 5 reports. It provides workforce information for employers and policy makers. Topics covered in this report include: •entry routes into local authority child and family social work •current employment and career history •workplace wellbeing •management, supervision and working environment •job satisfaction •career progression and future career plan

Discovery of a Transition to Global Spin-up in EXO 2030+375

EXO 2030+375, a 42-second transient X-ray pulsar with a Be star companion, has been observed to undergo an outburst at nearly every periastron passage for the last 13.5 years. From 1994 through 2002, the global trend in the pulsar spin frequency was spin-down. Using RXTE data from 2003 September, we have observed a transition to global spin-up in EXO 2030+375. Although the spin frequency observations are sparse, the relative spin-up between 2002 June and 2003 September observations, along with an overall brightening of the outbursts since mid 2002 observed with the RXTE ASM, accompanied by an increase in density of the Be disk, indicated by infrared magnitudes, suggest that the pattern observed with BATSE of a roughly constant spin frequency, followed by spin-up, followed by spin-down is repeating. If so this pattern has approximately an 11 year period, similar to the 15 +/- 3 year period derived by Wilson et al. (2002) for the precession period of a one-armed oscillation in the Be disk. If this pattern is indeed repeating, we predict a transition from spin-up to spin-down in 2005.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, 4 pages, 5 figures, using emulateapj.cl

Lorentz violating electrodynamics

After summarizing the most interesting results in the calculation of synchrotron radiation in the Myers-Pospelov effective model for Lorentz invariance violating (LIV) electrodynamics, we present a general unified way of describing the radiation regime of LIV electrodynamics which include the following three different models : Gambini-Pullin, Ellis et al. and Myers-Pospelov. Such unification reduces to the standard approach of radiation in a dispersive and absortive (in general) medium with a given index of refraction. The formulation is presented up to second order in the LIV parameter and it is explicitly applied to the synchrotron radiation case.Comment: 11 pages, extended version of the talk given by L.F. Urrutia in the VI Mexican School: Approaches to Quantum Gravity, Playa del Carmen, Mexico, Nov. 2004. Minor chages in the text and added reference

The complex process of scaling the integration of technology enhanced learning in mainstream classrooms

The early optimism for how technology might transform teaching and learning practices in mainstream school classrooms has long faded in many countries around the world. Whilst early research findings suggested that this was due to obvious barriers such as access to the technology itself, more recent attempts to scale student-access have illuminated other factors and provided a more sound theoretical foundation for us to understanding the processes and products of scaling educational technology innovations. This keynote will use findings from key projects and initiatives to highlight what is being learned – and how this might inform future endeavours to realise a more 21st century curriculum

Effects of air pollution on the nervous system and its possible role in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders

Recent extensive evidence indicates that air pollution, in addition to causing respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, may also negatively affect the brain and contribute to central nervous system diseases. Air pollution is comprised of ambient particulate matter (PM) of different sizes, gases, organic compounds, and metals. An important contributor to PM is represented by traffic-related air pollution, mostly ascribed to diesel exhaust (DE). Epidemiological and animal studies have shown that exposure to air pollution may be associated with multiple adverse effects on the central nervous system. In addition to a variety of behavioral abnormalities, the most prominent effects caused by air pollution are oxidative stress and neuro-inflammation, which are seen in both humans and animals, and are supported by in vitro studies. Among factors which can affect neurotoxic outcomes, age is considered most relevant. Human and animal studies suggest that air pollution may cause developmental neurotoxicity, and may contribute to the etiology of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder. In addition, air pollution exposure has been associated with increased expression of markers of neurodegenerative disease pathologies, such as alpha-synuclein or beta-amyloid, and may thus contribute to the etiopathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease

Impact of Employment Transitions on Health Insurance Coverage of Rural Residents

Numerous studies have found that rural residents are more likely to be uninsured than urban residents. This coverage difference is generally due to more limited access for rural workers to employer-sponsored health insurance. Lower wages, and the tendency for rural residents to work for small employers, account for this reduced access. While we have substantial information on static insurance coverage rates for rural residents, our knowledge about how coverage changes with employment transitions is limited. Prior research indicates that loss of a job puts workers at greater risk of becoming uninsured, and there is some evidence that this risk is even greater for rural workers. Other studies suggest that access to health insurance plays an important role in determining whether a worker decides to change. Whether this relationship is any different for urban versus rural workers has not been well-studied. In the past 20 years, much of the federal-level policy attention related to health insurance coverage has emphasized ensuring continuity of coverage for individuals that experience an employment transition. For example, the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), passed in 1985, ensured that those with employer-sponsored coverage could retain that coverage even if that employment ceased. Similarly, the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guaranteed individual coverage for those who leave a group plan. However, both of these key policy interventions are inapplicable to the smaller employers that are the backbone of rural economies. Thus, rural workers may be more likely than urban workers to experience disruptions in health insurance coverage following an employment transition. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides a new background against which to consider the issues of job change, job loss, health insurance portability and coverage of rural residents. Understanding how changes in employment status impact insurance coverage for rural workers can help to identify potential challenges and opportunities for implementing ACA in rural areas

Xenon detection in human blood: Analytical validation by accuracy profile and identification of critical storage parameters.

Xenon is a rare, mostly inert, noble gas that has applications in a wide range of fields, including medicine. Xenon acts on the human body as a useful organ-protective and anesthetic agent and has also been previously studied for potential applications in fields such as optics, aerospace and medical imaging. Recently, it was discovered that xenon can boost erythropoietin production, and it has been used as a performance-enhancing agent in international sports competitions such as the Sochi Olympic Games. Therefore, screening methods to detect the misuse of xenon by analysis of biological samples and to monitor anesthesia kinetics and efficiency are being investigated. The aim of this study was to develop and validate an analytical method to detect xenon in blood samples using gas chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Preliminary studies were conducted to determine the best parameters for chromatography and mass spectrometry for xenon. The analysis was performed using the multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) mode using the transitions m/z 129 → 129, 131 → 131 for xenon and 84 → 84, 86 → 86 for krypton, which was chosen as the internal standard. The LOD of GC-MS/MS was found to be 52 pmol on-column. Calibration lines and controls were made to obtain an accuracy profile at a range of 2.08-104 nmol with a β-expectation tolerance interval set at 80% and the acceptability limit set at ±30%. From the accuracy profile, the LOQ of 15 nmol on-column for the range of 2.08-104 nmol was obtained. The method was validated according to the guidelines of the French Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Techniques. The detection method was finally validated using blood from test persons subjected to a 15% or 30% xenon mixture with pure oxygen and air for 45 min. Even though the probes were already used for other projects, it was still possible to detect xenon

Many Urban and Rural Workers Lose Health Insurance During Job Transitions

Numerous studies have found that rural residents are more likely to be uninsured than urban residents, in part because rural workers are more likely to be employed by a small business or have low wages and thus have more limited access to employer coverage.1-5 Yet, our knowledge about how coverage changes with employment transitions is limited. Prior research indicates that loss of a job puts workers at greater risk of becoming uninsured,6 and there is some evidence that this risk is even greater for rural workers.7 In the past 20 years, much of the federal-level policy attention related to health insurance coverage (e.g. the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) has emphasized ensuring continuity of coverage for individuals that experience an employment transition. However, these key policy interventions do not apply to smaller employers that are the backbone of rural economies. !us, rural workers may be more likely than urban workers to experience disruptions in health insurance coverage following an employment transition. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of changes in employment status on insurance coverage for rural and urban workers, and the factors behind any differences. !e Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides a new backdrop against which to consider the issues of job change, job loss, health insurance portability and coverage of rural residents. Our findings provide important information about the health insurance coverage challenges that rural workers may face, and may help to identify potential challenges and opportunities for implementing ACA in rural areas

Chirality and Dirac Operator on Noncommutative Sphere

We give a derivation of the Dirac operator on the noncommutative $2$-sphere within the framework of the bosonic fuzzy sphere and define Connes' triple. It turns out that there are two different types of spectra of the Dirac operator and correspondingly there are two classes of quantized algebras. As a result we obtain a new restriction on the Planck constant in Berezin's quantization. The map to the local frame in noncommutative geometry is also discussed.Comment: 24 pages, latex, no figure