Fathers' expectations and experiences of childbirth: implications for postnatal adjustment

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the experiences of a group of first time fathers during the transition to parenthood, and identify factors which predict paternal adjustment postpartum. The transactional model of stress and coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) was used as a framework to investigate the relationships between mood, coping strategies, social support, expectations and experiences of childbirth antepartum and six weeks after the birth. Design: This was a prospective, postal questionnaire study. Methods: Thirty five prospective fathers and their partners were recruited through parent education classes; data are reported for 26 of these. Fathers completed questionnaires during the third trimester of pregnancy, immediately following the birth and six weeks postpartum. Mothers' postnatal depression scores were obtained directly from health visitors. Adaptation to parenthood was considered in terms of reported paternal anxiety, depression and parenting stress. Results: The study found evidence of clinically significant levels of anxiety antepartum, which decreased following the birth. Fathers reported their experience of childbirth to be more positive than they had expected, and this was largely independent of obstetric variables. Preliminary evidence suggests problem-focused coping strategies were associated with more negative experiences of childbirth. Adaptation to parenthood was best predicted by antenatal mood. Conclusions: The implications of maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies for antenatal interventions are discussed and directions for future research outlined. Longer term follow up is required to explore the observed association between parenting stress, obstetric variables and experiences of childbirth

Female Entrepreneurship in Ireland and Wales (FEIW)

Women business owners are increasingly recognised as having an important impact on the economy, both as a source of employment and of potential growth (OECD, 2004; GEM, 2004; and Henry and Kennedy, 2002). As a result, the Centre for Entrepreneurship, School of Business, WIT has developed an INTERREG IIIA-funded education and development programme with their partners from the School of Business and Management, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. The programme is the first of its type to be run in South East Ireland. The programme’s aims are to facilitate the growth and development of women-owned businesses in South East Ireland and South West Wales. The research for the programme determined the level of women-led businesses in both regions, the type of businesses women set up and the challenges they face. The research also identified the specific training needs of women in business

Developing a protocol for campus health service professional nurses to manage students with mental distress

Professional nurses working at a campus health service have to cope with challenges such as staff shortages and budgetary constraints associated with working in a complex environment providing primary health care. The aim of primary health care includes promoting health, preventing disease and the early detection and treatment of illness. Mental health services form an integral part of the integrated primary health care package as implemented in the campus health service. Students attend the Campus Health Service for help related to their health. Health care is provided by professional nurses and counsellors through a comprehensive primary health care service which serves students as well as staff. Some students may state that they experience feelings of being stressed or depressed. Other students may complain of physical symptoms such as headache or upper backache. Upon further investigation emotional problems may be identified as the cause of the psychosomatic symptoms. The professional nurses working in the campus health service verbalised that it is sometimes difficult to identify a mental illness or mental distress as there is no effective assessment tool that they can use. Management of conditions is also problematic as there are no protocols indicating the therapeutic interventions that can be taken. The research question in this study was therefore: What information should be included in a protocol to assess and manage a student experiencing mental distress that can be used by professional nurses working in a Campus Health Service? The aim of this study is to develop a mental health care protocol for campus health service professional nurses to assess and manage university students who are experiencing mental distress. The research design of this study was qualitative, explorative, descriptive, explanatory and contextual. In this study the Delphi research technique was used to create an instrument to standardise mental health care in a campus health service. The Delphi technique is a series of sequential questionnaires or “rounds” interspersed with controlled feedback that seeks to gain the most reliable consensus of opinion of a group of experts. A questionnaire was developed based on an extensive literature review. The research population of this study consisted of two groups: professional nurses with knowledge of student health care needs and expert psychiatric nurses. The study was conducted at the Campus Health Service at a university in the Eastern Cape. The data collection and analysis was done utilising the Delphi technique. Trustworthiness was ensured by using the Lincoln and Guba Model utilising the criteria of credibility, applicability, dependability and conformability. In this study the ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and self determination were applied to ensure that participants are treated with respect and consideration and ensured high ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from the participants in this study. The findings of this research were utilised to assist the researcher in developing a protocol for mental health care of students in campus health service settings

Development and evaluation of neuroscience lesson content to improve Key Stage 3 (11–14 year old) students' understanding of the early years in England

The Oxford SEEN (Secondary Education around Early Neurodevelopment) project developed Key Stage 3 (11–14 year olds) science lesson content about the importance of the early years for lifelong health and evaluated its impact on students' knowledge of the neuroscience and practical application to a real‐world scenario. A mixed methods approach was used collecting quantitative and qualitative data from students and staff using pre‐ and post‐lesson surveys and focus groups. Data were analysed from 2767 students from 20 schools in England. The new curriculum successfully increased both student's scientific understanding and practical application of knowledge about neurodevelopment and the role of the caregiver. students’ mean multiple choice question scores (assessing knowledge) were higher post‐lesson compared to pre‐lesson; this increase was consistent across gender and year group. The post‐lesson and 6–8‐week follow‐up scores were similar, indicating a retention in students' knowledge. Students were also asked how they would care for a 2‐year‐old child to promote brain development; before the lessons 89% of students provided no or a basic level answer, but after the lessons 50% of students provided detailed or advanced comments. The lessons were feasible and acceptable; both teachers and students stated the curriculum should be taught to other students. Qualitative analyses indicated that the lessons inspired the curiosity of both teachers and students and were perceived to impact on students' interaction with children in their current lives and their future career choices. The Oxford SEEN curriculum could serve as a foundation to build community‐wide knowledge about the importance of the early years, with the aim of enhancing mental and physical health outcomes for future generations

Nebulette knockout mice have normal cardiac function, but show Z-line widening and up-regulation of cardiac stress markers

Aims: Nebulette is a 109 kDa modular protein localized in the sarcomeric Z-line of the heart. In vitro studies have suggested a role of nebulette in stabilizing the thin filament, and missense mutations in the nebulette gene were recently shown to be causative for dilated cardiomyopathy and endocardial fibroelastosis in human and mice. However, the role of nebulette in vivo has remained elusive. To provide insights into the function of nebulette in vivo, we generated and studied nebulette-deficient (nebl-/-) mice. Methods and results: Nebl-/- mice were generated by replacement of exon 1 by Cre under the control of the endogenous nebulette promoter, allowing for lineage analysis using the ROSA26 Cre reporter strain. This revealed specific expression of nebulette in the heart, consistent with in situ hybridization results. Nebl-/- mice exhibited normal cardiac function both under basal conditions and in response to transaortic constriction as assessed by echocardiography and haemodynamic analyses. Furthermore, histological, IF, and western blot analysis showed no cardiac abnormalities in nebl-/- mice up to 8 months of age. In contrast, transmission electron microscopy showed Z-line widening starting from 5 months of age, suggesting that nebulette is important for the integrity of the Z-line. Furthermore, up-regulation of cardiac stress responsive genes suggests the presence of chronic cardiac stress in nebl-/- mice. Conclusion: Nebulette is dispensable for normal cardiac function, although Z-line widening and up-regulation of cardiac stress markers were found in nebl-/- heart. These results suggest that the nebulette disease causing mutations have dominant gain-of-function effects

The Muscle Ankyrin Repeat Proteins CARP, Ankrd2, and DARP Are Not Essential for Normal Cardiac Development and Function at Basal Conditions and in Response to Pressure Overload

Ankrd1/CARP, Ankrd2/Arpp, and Ankrd23/DARP belong to a family of stress inducible ankyrin repeat proteins expressed in striated muscle (MARPs). The MARPs are homologous in structure and localized in the nucleus where they negatively regulate gene expression as well as in the sarcomeric I-band, where they are thought to be involved in mechanosensing. Together with their strong induction during cardiac disease and the identification of causative Ankrd1 gene mutations in cardiomyopathy patients, this suggests their important roles in cardiac development, function, and disease. To determine the functional role of MARPs in vivo, we studied knockout (KO) mice of each of the three family members. Single KO mice were viable and had no apparent cardiac phenotype. We therefore hypothesized that the three highly homologous MARP proteins may have redundant functions in the heart and studied double and triple MARP KO mice. Unexpectedly, MARP triple KO mice were viable and had normal cardiac function both at basal levels and in response to mechanical pressure overload induced by transverse aortic constriction as assessed by echocardiography and hemodynamic studies. Thus, CARP, Ankrd2, and DARP are not essential for normal cardiac development and function at basal conditions and in response to mechanical pressure overload