Assessing the different dimensions and degrees of risk of child sexual abuse in institutions

This research report has been published by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. It identifies four dimensions of risk of child sexual abuse in institutional settings: situational, vulnerability, propensity and institutional risks. It draws on the existing research to examine how risk factors might operate cumulatively in the context of institutions. It examines to what extent various risk factors are more likely to occur in some institutions or activities than in others

Persistent immune dysregulation from sepsis in critical care

Introduction Patients who survive sepsis can develop an increased morbidity and mortality that persists long-term. This thesis examines whether sepsis induces epigenetic changes in host leukocytes which could result in long-term immune defects in patients, and whether this is due to the infection itself or widely used concomitant treatments sedation and neuromuscular blockade. Methods Patients (n=69) with positive blood cultures underwent blood sampling within 24 hours of blood culture result, 4-10 days later and 6-12 months following hospital discharge. Healthy volunteers served as a comparator group (n=37). In Vitro THP1 cell line models explored persistent effects of sepsis, Propofol, and Rocuronium treatment. Gene expression and concentration of candidate cytokines were assayed in cells rechallenged LPS/PMA. Immunometabolic profiling was carried out on cells recovered from Propofol and Rocuronium and rechallenged with septic spike. Chromatin Immunoprecipitation was performed to assess changes in histone modifications. Results Gene expression of key histone modifying enzymes were not altered in septic patient cells, but cell may display an immune defect when restimulated. Propofol and Rocuronium both affect the immunometabolism of monocytes, and Sugammadex reverses Rocuronium’s effect. Addition of Vecuronium produced a different immunometabolic profile in cells than Rocuronium. The expression of key cholinergic and cytokine genes were affected by Rocuronium and Sugammadex. Persistent histone modification changes were observed in cells with sepsis or treated with Propofol. Conclusions The thesis describes a trend of persisting epigenetic and immunometabolic changes in leukocytes following sepsis, which could result in long-term immune defects in patients. Routinely used Propofol and Rocuronium administration may contribute to these cellular changes, which will have clear clinical implications in treatment of intensive care patients

Electroweak Physics at HERA: Introduction and Summary

A high luminosity upgrade of HERA will allow the measurement of standard model parameters and the neutral current couplings of quarks. These results will have to be consistent with other precision measurements or indicate traces of new physics. The analysis of $W$ production will complement future results of LEP 2 and the Tevatron. We summarize the main results and conclusions obtained by the working group on Electroweak Physics concerning the potential of future experimentation at HERA.Comment: 12 pages (Latex), 4 figures (Postscript), to appear in the Proceedings of the Workshop on Future Physics at HERA. The complete report by the working group on electroweak physics at HERA is available from http://www.desy.de/~heraws96/proceeding

HERA prospects on Compositeness and New Vector Bosons

The absence of deviations from the Standard Model for the differential cross section ${d\sigma}/{dQ^2}$ at HERA is used to set limits on electron quark compositeness scale and on new vector bosons, especially the hadrophilic one recently introduced as a possible explanation for LEP/SLC and CDF anomalies.Comment: Latex file, 7 pages and 1 ps fig, few comments on others experiments are added, results are unchanged. To appear in Phys. Let.

Anomalous Neutrino Reactions at HERA

We study the sensitivity of HERA to new physics using the helicity suppressed reaction $e_R p \rightarrow \nu X$, where the final neutrino can be a standard model one or a heavy neutrino. The approach is model independent and is based on an effective lagrangian parametrization. It is shown that HERA will put significant bounds on the scale of new physics, though, in general, these are more modest than previously thought. If deviations from the standard model are observed in the above processes, future colliders such as the SSC and LHC will be able to directly probe the physics responsible for these discrepancies}Comment: 11 Pages + 2 figures is TOPDRAWER (included at the end or available by mail). Report UCRHEP-T113 (requires the macropackage PHYZZX). A line in the TeX file requesting an input file has been removed, it caused problem

The holy blood and the holy grail: Myths of scientific racism and the pursuit of excellence in sport

Despite the continuing publication of research that suggests there is no scientific basis to 'race' as a biological category, theories of racial difference continue to be invoked within sport to explain the perceived dominance of black athletes. In the case of John Entine's controversial 'Taboo: why black athletes dominate sports and why we are afraid to talk about it' or undergraduate textbooks that suggest 'racial differences' in physique may significantly affect athletic performance, scientific racism is normalised in sport. In this article, the relationship between scientific racism and sport will be examined. Qualitative research with current sport scientists is used to investigate the socio-ethical tensions within the subject field of sport science between professionalism, scientism and the demand from external interests to produce results that help people in sport win medals. It will be shown that these tensions, combined with the history of race as a category in sport science, combine to create the discourse of scientific knowledge that reflects, rather than challenges, folk genetics of black athletic physicality

Search for the hero: an investigation into the sports heroes of British sports fans

This is an initial study into British sports fans’ heroes. A questionnaire was sent to 95 students (average age ¼ 19.75) to identify their sporting hero, the hero’s sport and nationality and the reasons for this choice. Football was the most common source of sports heroes, identified by 49% of participants with a sporting hero. The majority (60%, N ¼ 48) of heroes chosen by participants were British, with David Beckham the most popular choice. Differences were observed between the gender of participants, gender of hero chosen and the reasons for choosing the hero. The most common reason for selecting a hero was a personal trait rather than skill, while in the questionnaire a category of Local Affiliation was added to those suggested by previous work. It was concluded that to become a hero athletes should combine skill with devotion to family, charity work and a place in popular culture

Staring into the abyss? The state of UK rugby's Super League

Rugby League's Super League was formed in 1995, due to unprecedented turmoil experienced in rugby league in Australia and a desire to run a season parallel to the Australian game during the British summer. The predicted outcomes of the Super League included greater uncertainty of outcome, increased attendances, and higher revenues for clubs, ultimately leading to the transformation of rugby league from a northern minority sport into a national/international sport. However, twenty years on, it appears that the Super League is running short of the objectives that it set itself. This paper analyses the financial health of Super League clubs alongside trends in attendance and participation. In summary, all three indicators of performance are poor in relation to the objectives set. These factors point to a bleak future for the sport and rugby league needs to produce a sustainable business model to keep both the clubs and the sport alive