Developing Freedom: The Sustainable Development Case for Ending Modern Slavery, Forced Labour, Human Trafficking

This project aimed to establish and promote a clear case for the global development community to prioritize anti-slavery and anti-trafficking in development programming and policies. Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7 commits states to fight modern slavery as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Target 8.7 underpins rallying efforts including Alliance 8.7 and the UK-initiated Call to Action. Buy-in to the Call to Action is growing (currently around 70 countries), but implementation through the global development system has so far been limited. Major development actors (e.g. UN country teams, OECD DAC and the World Bank) are notably absent. Why? One reason may be that the development case for fighting modern slavery has not yet been well articulated. The direct ‘pay off’ to governments and business from fighting modern slavery has not been well explained. Many governments see little reward for the costs involved in taking on the vested domestic political, transnational corporate and sometimes criminal interests that sustain modern slavery. And many corporate interests still see anti-slavery as a philanthropic exercise and cost centre, not as a profit strategy. The ‘return on investment’ has not been well identified. This project seeks to provide evidence-based materials that will begin to fill this gap, making a clear and strong ‘development case’ for fighting modern slavery

An assessment of the extent to which the contents of PROSPERO records meet the systematic review protocol reporting items in PRISMA-P [version 1; peer review: 2 approved]

Introduction PROSPERO is an international prospective register for systematic review protocols. Many of the registrations are the only available source of information about planned methods. This study investigated the extent to which records in PROSPERO contained the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis protocols (PRISMA-P). Methods A random sample of 439 single entry PROSPERO records of reviews of health interventions registered in 2018 was identified. Using a piloted list of 19 PRISMA-P items, divided into 63 elements, two researchers independently assessed the registration records. Where the information was present or not applicable to the review a score of 1 was assigned. Overall scores were calculated and comparisons made by stage of review at registration, whether or not a meta-analysis was planned and whether or not funding/sponsorship was reported. Results Some key methodological details such as eligibility criteria, were relatively frequently reported, but much of the information recommended in PRISMA-P was not stated in PROSPERO registrations. Considering the 19 items, the mean score was 4.8 (SD 1.8; median 4; range 2-11) and across all the assessed records only 25% (2081/8227) of the items were scored as reported. Considering the 63 elements, the mean score was 33.4 (SD 5.8; median 33; range 18-47) and overall, 53% (14,469/27,279) of the elements were assessed as reported. Reporting was more frequent for items required in PROSPERO than optional items. The planned comparisons showed no meaningful differences between groups. Conclusions PROSPERO provides reviewers with the opportunity to be transparent in their planned methods and demonstrate efforts to reduce bias. However, where the PROSPERO record is the only available source of a priori reporting, there is a significant shortfall in the items reported, compared to those recommended. This presents challenges in interpretation for those wishing to assess the validity of the final review

Getting shot of elves: healing, witchcraft and fairies in the Scottish witchcraft trials

This paper re-examines the evidence of the Scottish witchcraft trials for beliefs associated by scholars with "elf-shot." Some supposed evidence for elf-shot is dismissed, but other material illuminates the interplay between illness, healing and fairy-lore in early modern Scotland, and the relationship of these beliefs to witchcraft itself

Phenotypic variation in heteroblastic woody species does not contribute to shade survival

Heteroblastic species change their leaf morphology due to changes in light environment. However, growth and biomass allocation pattern do not contribute to their better survival relative to homoblastic congeners in low light. Thus, shade does not select for leaf heteroblasty

Structural and dielectric properties of Sr2_{2}TiO4_{4} from first principles

We have investigated the structural and dielectric properties of Sr$_{2}$TiO$_{4}$,the first member of the Sr$_{n+1}$Ti$_{n}$O$_{3n+1}$ Ruddlesden-Popper series, within density functional theory. Motivated by recent work in which thin films of Sr$_{2}$TiO$_{4}$ were grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) on SrTiO$_{3}$ substrates, the in-plane lattice parameter was fixed to the theoretically optimized lattice constant of cubic SrTiO$_{3}$ (n=$\infty$), while the out-of-plane lattice parameter and the internal structural parameters were relaxed. The fully relaxed structure was also investigated. Density functional perturbation theory was used to calculate the zone-center phonon frequencies, Born effective charges, and the electronic dielectric permittivity tensor. A detailed study of the contribution of individual infrared-active modes to the static dielectric permittivity tensor was performed. The calculated Raman and infrared phonon frequencies were found to be in agreement with experiment where available. Comparisons of the calculated static dielectric permittivity with experiments on both ceramic powders and epitaxial thin films are discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 1 figure, 8 tables, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Including a pen and/or cover letter, containing social incentive text, had no effect on questionnaire response rate : a factorial randomised controlled Study within a Trial [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

Background: Postal questionnaires are frequently used in randomised controlled trials to collect outcome data on participants; however, poor response can introduce bias, affect generalisability and validity, and reduce statistical power. The objective of this study was to assess whether a pen and/or social incentive text cover letter sent with a postal follow-up questionnaire increased response rates in a trial. Method: A two-by-two factorial randomised controlled trial was embedded within the OTIS host trial. Participants due their 12-month (final) follow-up questionnaire were randomised to be sent: a pen; a social incentive text cover letter; both; or neither. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of participants in each group who returned the questionnaire. Secondary outcomes were: time to return, completeness of the questionnaire, necessity of a reminder letter, and the cost effectiveness. Results: The overall 12-month questionnaire response rate was 721 out of 755 (95.5%). Neither the pen nor social incentive cover letter had a statistically significant effect on response rate: pen 95.2% vs. no pen 95.8%, adjusted OR 0.90 (95% CI 0.45 to 1.80; p=0.77); social incentive cover letter 95.2% vs. no social incentive cover letter 95.8%, adjusted OR 0.84 (95% CI 0.42 to 1.69, p=0.63). No statistically significant differences were observed between either of the intervention groups on time to response, need for a reminder or completeness. Therefore, neither intervention was cost-effective. Conclusions: We found no evidence of a difference in response rates associated with the inclusion of a pen and/or social incentive cover letter with the final follow-up postal questionnaire of the host trial. However, when these results are combined with previous SWATs, the meta-analysis evidence remains that including a pen increases response rates. The social incentive cover letter warrants further investigation to determine effectiveness

Writing in Britain and Ireland, c. 400 to c. 800

No abstract available

Imperfect Sound Forever: Loudness Wars, Listening Formations and the History of Sound Reproduction

The purpose of this paper is to provide some historical perspective on the so-called loudness war. Critics of the loudness war maintain that the average volume level of popular music recordings has increased dramatically since the proliferation of digital technology in the 1980s, and that this increase has had detrimental effects on sound quality and the listening experience. My point is not to weigh in on this debate, but to suggest that the issue of loudness in sound recording and playback can be traced back much earlier than the 1980s. In fact, loudness has been a source of pleasure, a target of criticism, and an engine of technological change since the very earliest days of commercial sound reproduction. Looking at the period between the turn-of-the-century format feud to the arrival of electrical amplification in the 1920s, I situate the loudness war within a longer historical trajectory, and demonstrate a variety of ways in which loudness and volume have been controversial issues in – and constitutive elements of – the history of sound reproduction. I suggest that the loudness war can be understood in relation to a broader cultural history of volume

Development of a heptaplex PCR assay for identification of Staphylococcus aureus and CoNS with simultaneous detection of virulence and antibiotic resistance genes

Background Staphylococcal toxicity and antibiotic resistance (STAAR) have been menacing public health. Although vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) is currently not as widespread as methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), genome evolution of MRSA into VRSA, including strains engineered within the same patient under anti-staphylococcal therapy, may build up to future public health concern. To further complicate diagnosis, infection control and anti-microbial chemotherapy, non-sterile sites such as the nares and the skin could contain both S. aureus and coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), either of which could harbour mecA the gene driving staphylococcal methicillin-resistance and required for MRSA-VRSA evolution. Results A new heptaplex PCR assay has been developed which simultaneously detects seven markers for: i) eubacteria (16S rRNA), ii) Staphylococcus genus (tuf), iii) Staphylococcus aureus (spa), iv) CoNS (cns), v) Panton-Valentine leukocidin (pvl), vi) methicillin resistance (mecA), and vii) vancomycin resistance (vanA). Following successful validation using 255 reference bacterial strains, applicability to analyse clinical samples was evaluated by direct amplification in spiked blood cultures (n = 89) which returned 100 % specificity, negative and positive predictive values. The new assay has LoD of 1.0x103 CFU/mL for the 16S rRNA marker and 1.0x104 CFU/mL for six other markers and completes cycling in less than one hour. Conclusion The speed, sensitivity (100 %), NPV (100 %) and PPV (100 %) suggest the new heptaplex PCR assay could be easily integrated into a routine diagnostic microbiology workflow. Detection of the cns marker allows for unique identification of CoNS in mono-microbial and in poly-microbial samples containing mixtures of CoNS and S. aureus without recourse to the conventional elimination approach which is ambiguous. In addition to the SA-CoNS differential diagnostic essence of the new assay, inclusion of vanA primers will allow microbiology laboratories to stay ahead of the emerging MRSA-VRSA evolution. To the best of our knowledge, the new heptaplex PCR assay is the most multiplexed among similar PCR-based assays for simultaneous detection of STAAR