SONUS QUI NON EST VOX: SOUND AND VOICE IN THE BODY POLITIC

From the knocking on the gate after Macbeth’s murder of Duncan to the sound of Ugolino’s teeth on the skull of his enemy, the suicide’s violent excretion of words and blood, Calvino’s “king who listens,” the Sicilian bull and the heavenly talking eagle, this essay considers the difference between the sound made by a voice and sounds that are merely instrumental or artificial as a feature of the body politic indicative of tyranny or justice

Optical Identification of Close White Dwarf Binaries in the LISA Era

The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) is expected to detect close white dwarf binaries (CWDBs) through their gravitational radiation. Around 3000 binaries will be spectrally resolved at frequencies > 3 mHz, and their positions on the sky will be determined to an accuracy ranging from a few tens of arcminutes to a degree or more. Due to the small binary separation, the optical light curves of >~ 30% of these CWDBs are expected to show eclipses, giving a unique signature for identification in follow-up studies of the LISA error boxes. While the precise optical location improves binary parameter determination with LISA data, the optical light curve captures additional physics of the binary, including the individual sizes of the stars in terms of the orbital separation. To optically identify a substantial fraction of CWDBs and thus localize them very accurately, a rapid monitoring campaign is required, capable of imaging a square degree or more in a reasonable time, at intervals of 10--100 seconds, to magnitudes between 20 and 25. While the detectable fraction can be up to many tens of percent of the total resolved LISA CWDBs, the exact fraction is uncertain due to unknowns related to the white dwarf spatial distribution, and potentially interesting physics, such as induced tidal heating of the WDs due to their small orbital separation.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Culture of airway epithelial cells from neonates sampled within 48-hours of birth

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The impact of cycle proficiency training on cycle-related behaviours and accidents in adolescence:Findings from ALSPAC, a UK longitudinal cohort

Abstract Background Cycle accidents are a common cause of physical injury in children and adolescents. Education is one strategy to reduce cycle-related injuries. In the UK, some children undertake National Cycle Proficiency Scheme [NCPS] training (now known as Bikeability) in their final years of primary school. It aims to promote cycling and safe cycling behaviours but there has been little scientific evaluation of its effectiveness. Methods The sample (n = 5415) were participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children who reported whether or not they had received NCPS training. Outcomes were self-reported at 14 and 16 years: cycling to school, ownership of cycle helmet, use of cycle helmet and high-visibility clothing on last cycle, and involvement in a cycle accident. An additional outcome, hospital admittance due to a cycle accident from 11 to 16 years, was also included for a subsample (n = 2222) who have been linked to Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) data. Results Approximately 40 % of the sample had received NCPS training. Trained children were more likely to cycle to school and to own a cycle helmet at both 14 and 16 years, to have worn a helmet on their last cycle at age 14, and to have worn high-visibility clothing at age 16, than those who had not attended a course. NCPS training was not associated with self-reported involvement in a cycle accident, and only six of those with HES data had been admitted to hospital due to a cycle accident. Irrespective of training, results indicate very low use of high-visibility clothing, very few girls cycling as part of their school commute, and less than half of helmet owners wearing one on their last cycle. Conclusions Our results suggest cycle training courses for children can have benefits that persist into adolescence. However, the low use of cycle helmets, very low use of high-visibility clothing, and low levels of cycling to school for girls, indicate the further potential for interventions to encourage cycling, and safe cycling behaviours, in young people

The potential for linking cohort participants to official criminal records: a pilot study using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

Introduction: Linking longitudinal cohort resources with police-recorded records of criminal activity has the potential to inform public health style approaches to policing, and may reduce potential sources of bias from self-reported criminal data collected by cohort studies. A pilot linkage of police records to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) allows us to consider the acceptability of this linkage, its utility as a data resource, differences in self-reported crime according to consent status for data linkage, and the appropriate governance mechanism to support such a linkage.Methods: We carried out a pilot study linking data from the ALSPAC birth cohort to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) records on criminal cautions and convictions. This pilot was conducted on a fully anonymous basis, meaning we cannot link the identified records to any participant or the wider information within the dataset. Using ALSPAC data, we used summary statistics to investigate differences in socio-economic background and self-reported criminal activity by consent status for crime linkage. We used MoJ records to identify the geographic and temporal concentration of criminality in the ALSPAC cohort.Results: We found that the linkage appears acceptable to participants (4% of the sample opted out), levels of criminal caution and conviction are high enough to support research, and that the majority of crimes occurred in Avon & Somerset (the policing area local to ALSPAC). Those who did not respond to consent requests had higher levels of self-reported criminal behaviour compared to participants who provided explicit consent.Conclusions: These findings suggest that data linkage in ALSPAC provides opportunities to study criminal behaviour and that linked individual-level records could provide robust research in the area. Our findings also suggest the potential for bias when only including participants who have explicitly consented to data linkage, highlighting the limitations of opt-in consent strategies

An evaluation of the impact of 'Lifeskills' training on road safety, substance use and hospital attendance in adolescence

AbstractPurposeTo evaluate if attendance at Lifeskills, a safety education centre for children in Year 6 (10–11 years), is associated with engagement in safer behaviours, and with fewer accidents and injuries, in adolescence.MethodsThe sample are participants in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children who attended school in the Lifeskills catchment area in Year 6; 60% attended Lifeskills. At 14–15 years, participants (n approximately 3000, varies by outcome) self-reported road safety behaviours and accidents, and perceived health effects and use of alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco. Additional outcomes from linkage to Hospital Episodes Statistics were available for a sub-sample (n=1768): hospital admittance (for accident-related reason, from 11–16 years) and A&E attendance (for any reason, from approximately 14–16 years).ResultsChildren who attended Lifeskills were more likely to report using pedestrian crossings on their way to school than children who did not attend (59% versus 52%). Lifeskills attendance was unrelated to the ownership of cycle helmets, or the use of cycle helmets, seat belts, or reflective/fluorescent clothing, or to A&E attendance. Use of cycle helmets (37%) and reflective/fluorescent clothing (<4%) on last cycle was low irrespective of Lifeskills attendance. Lifeskills attendance was associated with less reported smoking and cannabis use, but was generally unrelated to perceptions of the health impact of substance use.ConclusionsLifeskills attendance was associated with some safer behaviours in adolescence. The overall low use of cycle helmets and reflective/fluorescent clothing evidences the need for powerful promotion of some safer behaviours at Lifeskills and at follow-up in schools

Measuring serious violence: a comparison of self-reported and police-recorded outcomes in a UK birth cohort linked to local police data.

Objectives • To compare self-reported and police-recorded serious violence using data from a longitudinal UK birth cohort linked to local (Avon and Somerset Constabulary) police records • To assess the risk of police-recorded serious violence according to study participation status across the lifecourse Approach We linked data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) to local police records on charges, cautions and other out of court disposals. We compared the risk of self-reported serious violence at 8 time points from 15 to 25 years to police-recorded serious violence at these ages. We then compared the risk of police-recorded serious violence among those actively participating in ALSPAC to those not participating at various time points from pregnancy onwards. We used logistic regression to examine whether differences in risk could be explained by socio-demographic and family characteristics associated with ALSPAC participation. Results The sample included 12,662 participants who had received fair processing materials and had not opted out of linkage to police records. They linked to a total of 6,283 offences, of which 933 were classified as serious violence (involving a total of 530 individuals). Self-reported serious violence in the past year was particularly high at 15 years (23.5%); at other ages it ranged from 3.7% (22 years) to 8.7% (20 years). Police-recorded serious violence was lower at all ages, peaking at 1.0% at 17 and 18 years. The risk of police-recorded serious violence was higher among those not participating in ALSPAC than among active participants, particularly during adolescence and early adulthood. This difference was only partially explained by socio-demographic and other factors. Conclusion A key advantage of linkage to police records is it enables outcomes to be measured irrespective of study participation status as relying only on active participants leads to bias. Combining self-reported and police-recorded outcomes allows us to derive measures of offending that take account of the biases inherent in each

Adversity in childhood and later involvement in serious violent crime

Objective To use longitudinal birth cohort data linked to police records to examine whether the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and police-recorded serious violence depends on the type, timing or duration of ACEs. Methods The sample are 5070 participants (born 1991-1992) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children who allowed linkage to Avon and Somerset (A&S) local police data, lived in A&S from age 16-24 years, and had exposure and confounder data. The binary outcome (no, yes) is having a police record for a serious violence (SV) offence from age 16-24. ACEs were parent-reported from birth to age 11 and include measures of parental physical and emotional abuse. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between the timing of different ACEs and SV, adjusted for child sex, ethnicity, and family socioeconomic position. Results 6% of the participants had experienced physical abuse, 17% emotional abuse, and 121 individuals (2.4%) had at least one SV record. In adjusted models, there was evidence of an association between physical (OR 1.90, 95% 1.08-3.35) but not emotional (0.96, 0.60-1.54) abuse and risk of SV. Results suggest that those who experienced physical abuse in both early (<4 years) and later (4-11 years) childhood, or later childhood only, might have been at greater risk of SV than those who experienced it only during early childhood, although numbers were small and confidence intervals were consequently wide. Conclusion Results to date suggest that associations with SV differ between ACE types, and that timing may be important. In our presentation, we will also present findings for other ACEs

The potential for linking cohort participants to official criminal records:a pilot study using the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)

Introduction: Linking longitudinal cohort resources with police-recorded records of criminal activity has the potential to inform public health style approaches to policing, and may reduce potential sources of bias from self-reported criminal data collected by cohort studies. A pilot linkage of police records to the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) allows us to consider the acceptability of this linkage, its utility as a data resource, differences in self-reported crime according to consent status for data linkage, and the appropriate governance mechanism to support such a linkage. Methods: We carried out a pilot study linking data from the ALSPAC birth cohort to Ministry of Justice (MoJ) records on criminal cautions and convictions. This pilot was conducted on a fully anonymous basis, meaning we cannot link the identified records to any participant or the wider information within the dataset. Using ALSPAC data, we used summary statistics to investigate differences in socio-economic background and self-reported criminal activity by consent status for crime linkage. We used MoJ records to identify the geographic and temporal concentration of criminality in the ALSPAC cohort. Results: We found that the linkage appears acceptable to participants (4% of the sample opted out), levels of criminal caution and conviction are high enough to support research, and that the majority of crimes occurred in Avon & Somerset (the policing area local to ALSPAC). Those who did not respond to consent requests had higher levels of self-reported criminal behaviour compared to participants who provided explicit consent. Conclusions: These findings suggest that data linkage in ALSPAC provides opportunities to study criminal behaviour and that linked individual-level records could provide robust research in the area. Our findings also suggest the potential for bias when only including participants who have explicitly consented to data linkage, highlighting the limitations of opt-in consent strategies