Understanding British Values in Primary Schools: Policy and Practice

This book will explore the notion and values and British values, how school promote and engage with the education agenda linked to the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

Minimizers of the vector-valued coarea formula

The vector-valued coarea formula provides a relationship between the integral of the Jacobian of a map from high dimensions down to low dimensions with the integral over the measure of the fibers of this map. We explore minimizers of this functional, proving existence using both a variational approach and an approach with currents. Additionally, we consider what properties these minimizers will have and provide examples. Finally, this problem is considered in metric spaces, where a third existence proof is given

Problem drug users' experiences of employment and the benefit system

This report presents the findings of a study commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to examine the issues surrounding employment and benefit uptake in England by individuals who use illicit drugs, in particular heroin and crack cocaine. In addressing these issues, the study also explores the wider context of education, training, drug use and treatment. This report has two key elements a review of the literature on drug use and benefit uptake, and a qualitative component that included face-to-face interviews with 75 drug users and ten professionals who work with drug users to explore specific issues in detail. The research was carried out by a team from the Centre for Drug Misuse Research at the University of Glasgow and the Centre for the Analysis of Social Policy at the University of Bath

ArviZ a unified library for exploratory analysis of Bayesian models in Python

ArviZ is a Python package for exploratory analysis of Bayesian models. ArviZ aims to be a package that integrates seamlessly with established probabilistic programming languages like PyStan, PyMC, Edward, emcee, Pyro and easily integrated with novel or bespoke Bayesian analyses. Where the aim of the probabilistic programming languages is to make it easy to build and solve Bayesian models, the aim of the ArviZ library is to make it easy to process and analyze the results from the Bayesian models.Fil: Kumar, Ravin. No especifíca;Fil: Carroll, Colin. No especifíca;Fil: Hartikainen, Ari. Aalto University; FinlandiaFil: Martín, Osvaldo Antonio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - San Luis. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi". Universidad Nacional de San Luis. Facultad de Ciencias Físico, Matemáticas y Naturales. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada de San Luis "Prof. Ezio Marchi"; Argentin

Prediction and prevention of the next pandemic zoonosis.

Most pandemics--eg, HIV/AIDS, severe acute respiratory syndrome, pandemic influenza--originate in animals, are caused by viruses, and are driven to emerge by ecological, behavioural, or socioeconomic changes. Despite their substantial effects on global public health and growing understanding of the process by which they emerge, no pandemic has been predicted before infecting human beings. We review what is known about the pathogens that emerge, the hosts that they originate in, and the factors that drive their emergence. We discuss challenges to their control and new efforts to predict pandemics, target surveillance to the most crucial interfaces, and identify prevention strategies. New mathematical modelling, diagnostic, communications, and informatics technologies can identify and report hitherto unknown microbes in other species, and thus new risk assessment approaches are needed to identify microbes most likely to cause human disease. We lay out a series of research and surveillance opportunities and goals that could help to overcome these challenges and move the global pandemic strategy from response to pre-emption

Systematic reviews of and integrated report on the quantitative, qualitative and economic evidence base for the management of obesity in men

<b>Background</b><p></p> Obesity increases the risk of many serious illnesses such as coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis. More men than women are overweight or obese in the UK but men are less likely to perceive their weight as a problem and less likely to engage with weight-loss services.<p></p> <b>Objective</b><p></p> The aim of this study was to systematically review evidence-based management strategies for treating obesity in men and investigate how to engage men in obesity services by integrating the quantitative, qualitative and health economic evidence base.<p></p> <b>Data sources</b><p></p> Electronic databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, the Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects and the NHS Economic Evaluation Database were searched from inception to January 2012, with a limited update search in July 2012. Subject-specific websites, reference lists and professional health-care and commercial organisations were also consulted.<p></p> <b>Review methods</b><p></p> Six systematic reviews were conducted to consider the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and qualitative evidence on interventions for treating obesity in men, and men in contrast to women, and the effectiveness of interventions to engage men in their weight reduction. Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) with follow-up data of at least 1 year, or any study design and length of follow-up for UK studies, were included. Qualitative and mixed-method studies linked to RCTs and non-randomised intervention studies, and UK-based, men-only qualitative studies not linked to interventions were included. One reviewer extracted data from the included studies and a second reviewer checked data for omissions or inaccuracies. Two reviewers carried out quality assessment. We undertook meta-analysis of quantitative data and a realist approach to integrating the qualitative and quantitative evidence synthesis.<p></p> <b>Results</b><p></p> From a total of 12,764 titles reviewed, 33 RCTs with 12 linked reports, 24 non-randomised reports, five economic evaluations with two linked reports, and 22 qualitative studies were included. Men were more likely than women to benefit if physical activity was part of a weight-loss programme. Reducing diets tended to produce more favourable weight loss than physical activity alone (mean weight change after 1 year from a reducing diet compared with an exercise programme -3.2 kg, 95% CI -4.8 kg to -1.6 kg). The type of reducing diet did not affect long-term weight loss. A reducing diet plus physical activity and behaviour change gave the most effective results. Low-fat reducing diets, some with meal replacements, combined with physical activity and behaviour change training gave the most effective long-term weight change in men [-5.2 kg (standard error 0.2 kg) after 4 years]. Such trials may prevent type 2 diabetes in men and improve erectile dysfunction. Although fewer men joined weight-loss programmes, once recruited they were less likely to drop out than women (difference 11%, 95% CI 8% to 14%). The perception of having a health problem (e.g. being defined as obese by a health professional), the impact of weight loss on health problems and desire to improve personal appearance without looking too thin were motivators for weight loss amongst men. The key components differ from those found for women, with men preferring more factual information on how to lose weight and more emphasis on physical activity programmes. Interventions delivered in social settings were preferred to those delivered in health-care settings. Group-based programmes showed benefits by facilitating support for men with similar health problems, and some individual tailoring of advice assisted weight loss in some studies. Generally, men preferred interventions that were individualised, fact-based and flexible, which used business-like language and which included simple to understand information. Preferences for men-only versus mixed-sex weight-loss group programmes were divided. In terms of context, programmes which were cited in a sporting context where participants have a strong sense of affiliation showed low drop out rates and high satisfaction. Although some men preferred weight-loss programmes delivered in an NHS context, the evidence comparing NHS and commercial programmes for men was unclear. The effect of family and friends on participants in weight-loss programmes was inconsistent in the evidence reviewed - benefits were shown in some cases, but the social role of food in maintaining relationships may also act as a barrier to weight loss. Evidence on the economics of managing obesity in men was limited and heterogeneous.<p></p> <b>Limitations</b><p></p> The main limitations were the limited quantity and quality of the evidence base and narrow outcome reporting, particularly for men from disadvantaged and minority groups. Few of the studies were undertaken in the UK.<p></p> <b>Conclusions</b><p></p> Weight reduction for men is best achieved and maintained with the combination of a reducing diet, physical activity advice or a physical activity programme, and behaviour change techniques. Tailoring interventions and settings for men may enhance effectiveness, though further research is needed to better understand the influence of context and content. Future studies should include cost-effectiveness analyses in the UK setting

Alcohol Misusers' experiences of employment and the benefit system

This study was commissioned by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to explore the experiences of adults with alcohol misuse problems in the UK in relation to employment, unemployment and benefit uptake. A separate report contains the findings of a study to estimate the number of people who are accessing DWP benefits and who have a problematic relationship with alcohol (Hay et al., 2010)

Mapping Topics in 100,000 Real-life Moral Dilemmas

Moral dilemmas play an important role in theorizing both about ethical norms and moral psychology. Yet thought experiments borrowed from the philosophical literature often lack the nuances and complexity of real life. We leverage 100,000 threads -- the largest collection to date -- from Reddit's r/AmItheAsshole to examine the features of everyday moral dilemmas. Combining topic modeling with evaluation from both expert and crowd-sourced workers, we discover 47 finer-grained, meaningful topics and group them into five meta-categories. We show that most dilemmas combine at least two topics, such as family and money. We also observe that the pattern of topic co-occurrence carries interesting information about the structure of everyday moral concerns: for example, the generation of moral dilemmas from nominally neutral topics, and interaction effects in which final verdicts do not line up with the moral concerns in the original stories in any simple way. Our analysis demonstrates the utility of a fine-grained data-driven approach to online moral dilemmas, and provides a valuable resource for researchers aiming to explore the intersection of practical and theoretical ethics.Comment: To be published in ICWSM 202

Anarchy in the UK: Reading Beryl the Peril via historic conceptions of childhood

© 2014 Taylor & Francis. Much work within the field of childhood studies has focused on the social discourses through which childhood is understood. This article draws on this work in developing a critical framework for considering the appeal of Beryl the Peril. The article examines the influence of conceptualisations of childhood prevalent in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. These theorised children as disruptive and requiring restraint. Approved literature for children sought to socialise them into the adult order. However, a more subversive strain, identifiable in Lewis Carroll's Alice novels, celebrated an anarchic vision of childhood. This article examines how Beryl the Peril negotiated these conflicting conceptions of childhood. Beryl is an unruly force; her opponent, and representative of social authority, is Dad. Their clashes play out the tensions in these articulations of childhood. The development of Beryl over nearly 60 years provides an opportunity to examine how her subversive spirit has remained appealing