Access courses as a site of engagement: a research project

This research project was funded by the Greater Manchester Strategic Alliance and Aimhigher Research Network North West. A database of Access students was held at the University of Salford that included students from 1998-2006. The names of the students were gathered by the Access Unit from their Enrichment Programme over the period. Ethical approval for the research was sought from the IRIS Director and advice on the Data Protection Act sought from the manager responsible within the university. The database contained information on name, age, address, telephone contact, gender, ethnicity, college and Access course attended. There were approximately 6000 entries on the database. “Access to higher education courses offer a route into higher education (HE) for those who do not have the educational qualifications which are usually required for entry. These courses provide the underpinning knowledge and skills needed for university-level study, and lead to the award of the Access to HE qualification, which is of an equivalent standard to Level 3 qualifications, such as A levels.” UCAS website. Individuals can study a range of courses in different subject areas such as health, science or humanities. Access courses can be studied over one year as a full time course or over two-three years as a part time course. The starting point for the study is the view that to enrol on an Access to HE course means that a major decision or turning point in an adult’s life has taken place and that the individual wants to change direction. This change of direction is important and suggests that individuals may have missed an opportunity earlier in their lives or do not wish to continue in the same employment situation or in the case of many women who are carers their circumstances have changed. The engagement in learning is an agentic act on the part of the individual that may be prompted by others in the immediate family or friends. However, a necessary aspect of this engagement is the provision of Access courses as a means to enter higher education or change employment

SDSS IV MaNGA - Rotation Velocity Lags in the Extraplanar Ionized Gas from MaNGA Observations of Edge-on Galaxies

We present a study of the kinematics of the extraplanar ionized gas around several dozen galaxies observed by the Mapping of Nearby Galaxies at the Apache Point Observatory (MaNGA) survey. We considered a sample of 67 edge-on galaxies out of more than 1400 extragalactic targets observed by MaNGA, in which we found 25 galaxies (or 37%) with regular lagging of the rotation curve at large distances from the galactic midplane. We model the observed $H\alpha$ emission velocity fields in the galaxies, taking projection effects and a simple model for the dust extinction into the account. We show that the vertical lag of the rotation curve is necessary in the modeling, and estimate the lag amplitude in the galaxies. We find no correlation between the lag and the star formation rate in the galaxies. At the same time, we report a correlation between the lag and the galactic stellar mass, central stellar velocity dispersion, and axial ratio of the light distribution. These correlations suggest a possible higher ratio of infalling-to-local gas in early-type disk galaxies or a connection between lags and the possible presence of hot gaseous halos, which may be more prevalent in more massive galaxies. These results again demonstrate that observations of extraplanar gas can serve as a potential probe for accretion of gas.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication in Ap

Empiema necessitans y osteomielitis aguda secundaria a una infección por Staphylo-coccus aureus resistente a meticilina asociado a la comunidad

Staphylococcus aureus is a well recognized pathogen with global distribution. In recent years community-associated, methicillin-resistant S. aureus has emerged as an increasing cause of severe infections among adults and children. Herein, a case is reported of a previously healthy, 19-month-old male, who presented with empyema necessitans and acute osteomyelitis due to a community-associated, methicillin-resistant, S. aureus strain. This report highlights the evolving epidemiology of S. aureus, as important pathogen in the community as well as the hospital setting, and the importance of establishing appropriate guidelines for diagnosis, management and surveillance of this public health problem.Staphylococcus aureus es uno de los principales patógenos a nivel mundial. Durante los últimos años se ha reportado un incremento en el número de casos de S. aureus resistente a la meticilina adquiridos en la comunidad, tanto en niños como en adultos de los Estados Unidos y de otras partes del mundo.En el presente trabajo reportamos un caso de empiema necessitans y osteomielitis aguda en un niño de 19 meses de edad previamente sano. El presente reporte resalta la cambiante epidemiología de S. aureus tanto en la comunidad como en el medio hospitalario y la importancia de establecer guías apropiadas para el diagnóstico, el tratamiento y la vigilancia de este relevante problema de salud pública

Financing equitable access to antiretroviral treatment in South Africa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>While South Africa spends approximately 7.4% of GDP on healthcare, only 43% of these funds are spent in the public system, which is tasked with the provision of care to the majority of the population including a large proportion of those in need of antiretroviral treatment (ART). South Africa is currently debating the introduction of a National Health Insurance (NHI) system. Because such a universal health system could mean increased public healthcare funding and improved access to human resources, it could improve the sustainability of ART provision. This paper considers the minimum resources that would be required to achieve the proposed universal health system and contrasts these with the costs of scaled up access to ART between 2010 and 2020.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The costs of ART and universal coverage (UC) are assessed through multiplying unit costs, utilization and estimates of the population in need during each year of the planning cycle. Costs are from the provider’s perspective reflected in real 2007 prices.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The annual costs of providing ART increase from US$1 billion in 2010 to US$3.6 billion in 2020. If increases in funding to public healthcare only keep pace with projected real GDP growth, then close to 30% of these resources would be required for ART by 2020. However, an increase in the public healthcare resource envelope from 3.2% to 5%-6% of GDP would be sufficient to finance both ART and other services under a universal system (if based on a largely public sector model) and the annual costs of ART would not exceed 15% of the universal health system budget.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Responding to the HIV-epidemic is one of the many challenges currently facing South Africa. Whether this response becomes a “resource for democracy” or whether it undermines social cohesiveness within poor communities and between rich and poor communities will be partially determined by the steps that are taken during the next ten years. While the introduction of a universal system will be complex, it could generate a health system responsive to the needs of all South Africans.</p

Advanced spectroscopy-based phenotyping offers a potential solution to the ash dieback epidemic

Natural and urban forests worldwide are increasingly threatened by global change resulting from human-mediated factors, including invasions by lethal exotic pathogens. Ash dieback (ADB), incited by the alien invasive fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, has caused large-scale population decline of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) across Europe, and is threatening to functionally extirpate this tree species. Genetically controlled host resistance is a key element to ensure European ash survival and to restore this keystone species where it has been decimated. We know that a low proportion of the natural population of European ash expresses heritable, quantitative resistance that is stable across environments. To exploit this resource for breeding and restoration efforts, tools that allow for effective and efficient, rapid identification and deployment of superior genotypes are now sorely needed. Here we show that Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy of phenolic extracts from uninfected bark tissue, coupled with a model based on soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA), can robustly discriminate between ADB-resistant and susceptible European ash. The model was validated with populations of European ash grown across six European countries. Our work demonstrates that this approach can efficiently advance the effort to save such fundamental forest resource in Europe and elsewhere

Consumer perceptions of safety in hospitals

BACKGROUND: Studies investigating adverse events have traditionally been principally undertaken from a medical perspective. The impact that experience of an adverse event has on consumer confidence in health care is largely unknown. The objectives of the study were to seek public opinion on 1) the rate and severity of adverse events experienced in hospitals; and 2) the perception of safety in hospitals, so that predictors of lack of safety could be identified. METHODS: A multistage, clustered survey of persons residing in South Australia (2001), using household interviews (weighted n = 2,884). RESULTS: A total of 67% of respondents aged over forty years reported having at least one member of their household hospitalised in the past five years; with the average being two hospital admissions in five years. Respondents stated that 7.0% (95%CI: 6.2% to 7.9%) of those hospital admissions were associated with an adverse event; 59.7% of respondents (95% CI: 51.4% to 67.5%) rated the adverse event as really serious and 48.5% (95% CI: 40.4% to 56.8%) stated prolonged hospitalisation was required as a consequence of the adverse event. Perception of safety in hospitals was largely affected by the experience of an adverse event; really serious events were the most significant predictor of lack of safety in those aged 40 years and over (RR 2.38; p<0.001). CONCLUSION: The experience of adverse events negatively impacted on public confidence in hospitals. The consumer-reported adverse event rate in hospitals (7.0%) is similar to that identified using medical record review. Based on estimates from other studies, self-reported claims of adverse events in hospital by consumers appear credible, and should be considered when developing appropriate treatment regimes

X-Rays from Superbubbles in the Large Magellanic Cloud. V. The H II Complex N11

The large H II complex N11 in the Large Magellanic Cloud contains OB associations at several different stages in their life histories. We have obtained ROSAT PSPC and HRI X-ray observations, Curtis Schmidt CCD images, echelle spectra in H-alpha and [N II] lines, and IUE interstellar absorption line observations of this region. The central bubble of N11 has an X-ray luminosity a factor of only 3-7 brighter than predicted for an energy-conserving superbubble, making this the first detection of X-ray emission from a superbubble without a strong X-ray excess. The region N11B contains an extremely young OB association analogous to the central association of the Carina nebula, apparently still embedded in its natal molecular cloud. We find that N11B emits diffuse X-ray emission, probably powered by stellar winds. Finally, we compare the tight cluster HD32228 in N11 to R136 in 30 Dor. The latter is a strong X-ray source, while the former is not detected, showing that strong X-ray emission from compact objects is not a universal property of such tight clusters.Comment: submitted to ApJ 1 April 1997, uses aasms4.sty, 20 pages, 10 figures (figure 3 is color; figures 1a and 4 are gifs; original postscript available from http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/MPIA/Projects/THEORY/maclow/papers/n11/n11.htm

The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: Extragalactic Sources at 148 GHz in the 2008 Survey

We report on extragalactic sources detected in a 455 square-degree map of the southern sky made with data at a frequency of 148 GHz from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope 2008 observing season. We provide a catalog of 157 sources with flux densities spanning two orders of magnitude: from 15 to 1500 mJy. Comparison to other catalogs shows that 98% of the ACT detections correspond to sources detected at lower radio frequencies. Three of the sources appear to be associated with the brightest cluster galaxies of low redshift X-ray selected galaxy clusters. Estimates of the radio to mm-wave spectral indices and differential counts of the sources further bolster the hypothesis that they are nearly all radio sources, and that their emission is not dominated by re-emission from warm dust. In a bright (>50 mJy) 148 GHz-selected sample with complete cross-identifications from the Australia Telescope 20 GHz survey, we observe an average steepening of the spectra between 5, 20, and 148 GHz with median spectral indices of $\alpha_{\rm 5-20} = -0.07 \pm 0.06$, $\alpha_{\rm 20-148} = -0.39 \pm0.04$, and $\alpha_{\rm 5-148} = -0.20 \pm 0.03$. When the measured spectral indices are taken into account, the 148 GHz differential source counts are consistent with previous measurements at 30 GHz in the context of a source count model dominated by radio sources. Extrapolating with an appropriately rescaled model for the radio source counts, the Poisson contribution to the spatial power spectrum from synchrotron-dominated sources with flux density less than 20 mJy is C^{\rm Sync} = (2.8 \pm 0.3) \times 10^{-6} \micro\kelvin^2.Comment: Accepted to Ap

Engineering the Controlled Assembly of Filamentous Injectisomes in E. coli K-12 for Protein Translocation into Mammalian Cells.

Bacterial pathogens containing type III protein secretion systems (T3SS) assemble large needle-like protein complexes in the bacterial envelope, called injectisomes, for translocation of protein effectors into host cells. The application of these molecular syringes for the injection of proteins into mammalian cells is hindered by their structural and genomic complexity, requiring multiple polypeptides encoded along with effectors in various transcriptional units (TUs) with intricate regulation. In this work, we have rationally designed the controlled expression of the filamentous injectisomes found in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) in the nonpathogenic strain E. coli K-12. All structural components of EPEC injectisomes, encoded in a genomic island called the locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE), were engineered in five TUs (eLEEs) excluding effectors, promoters and transcriptional regulators. These eLEEs were placed under the control of the IPTG-inducible promoter Ptac and integrated into specific chromosomal sites of E. coli K-12 using a marker-less strategy. The resulting strain, named synthetic injector E. coli (SIEC), assembles filamentous injectisomes similar to those in EPEC. SIEC injectisomes form pores in the host plasma membrane and are able to translocate T3-substrate proteins (e.g., translocated intimin receptor, Tir) into the cytoplasm of HeLa cells reproducing the phenotypes of intimate attachment and polymerization of actin-pedestals elicited by EPEC bacteria. Hence, SIEC strain allows the controlled expression of functional filamentous injectisomes for efficient translocation of proteins with T3S-signals into mammalian cells

Early severe morbidity and resource utilization in South African adults on antiretroviral therapy

BACKGROUND:High rates of mortality and morbidity have been described in sub-Saharan African patients within the first few months of starting highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). There is limited data on the causes of early morbidity on HAART and the associated resource utilization. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted of medical admissions at a secondary-level hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Patients on HAART were identified from a register and HIV-infected patients not on HAART were matched by gender, month of admission, and age group to correspond with the first admission of each case. Primary reasons for admission were determined by chart review. Direct health care costs were determined from the provider's perspective. RESULTS: There were 53 in the HAART group with 70 admissions and 53 in the no-HAART group with 60 admissions. The median duration of HAART was 1 month (interquartile range 1-3 months). Median baseline CD4 count in the HAART group was 57 x 106 cells/L (IQR 15-115). The primary reasons for admission in the HAART group were more likely to be due to adverse drug reactions and less likely to be due to AIDS events than the no-HAART group (34% versus 7%; p < 0.001 and 39% versus 63%; p = 0.005 respectively). Immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome was the primary reason for admission in 10% of the HAART group. Lengths of hospital stay per admission and inpatient survival were not significantly different between the two groups. Five of the 15 deaths in the HAART group were due to IRIS or adverse drug reactions. Median costs per admission of diagnostic and therapeutic services (laboratory investigations, radiology, intravenous fluids and blood, and non-ART medications) were higher in the HAART group compared with the no-HAART group (US$190 versus US$111; p = 0.001), but the more expensive non-curative costs (overhead, capital, and clinical staff) were not significantly different (US$1199 versus US$1128; p = 0.525). CONCLUSIONS: Causes of early morbidity are different and more complex in HIV-infected patients on HAART. This results in greater resource utilization of diagnostic and therapeutic services