Diffusion theory and multi-disciplinary working in children’s services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how innovation in children’s services is adopted and developed by staff within new multi-disciplinary children’s safeguarding teams. It draws on diffusion of innovations (DOI) theory to help us better understand the mechanisms by which the successful implementation of multi-disciplinary working can be best achieved. Design/methodology/approach It is based on interviews with 61 frontline safeguarding staff, including social workers, substance misuse workers, mental health workers and domestic abuse workers. Thematic analysis identified the enablers and barriers to implementation. Findings DOI defines five innovation attributes as essential for rapid diffusion: relative advantage over current practice; compatibility with existing values and practices; complexity or simplicity of implementation; trialability or piloting of new ideas; and observability or seeing results swiftly. Staff identified multi-disciplinary team working and group supervision as advantageous, in line with social work values and improved their service to children and families. Motivational interviewing and new ways of case recordings were less readily accepted because of the complexity of practicing confidently and concerns about the risks of moving away from exhaustive case recording which workers felt provided professional accountability. Practical implications DOI is a useful reflective tool for senior managers to plan and review change programmes, and to identify any emerging barriers to successful implementation. Originality/value The paper provides insights into what children’s services staff value about multi-disciplinary working and why some aspects of innovation are adopted more readily than others, depending on the perception of diffusion attributes.

Optimal characteristics of inserted graphic objects in stimulating CCTV operator vigilance and performance

Ph.D. Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, 2011Vigilance is a key process fundamental for sustained performance in many jobs and in particular those requiring continual detection in visually intensive tasks. This research examined operators’ overall vigilance performance levels and decrements over time in the context of closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance. The aims of the research were to develop an intervention to enhance the detection of significant events, and to establish the levels of overall vigilance performance and decrements in a CCTV surveillance task. The intervention consisted of electronically inserting graphic objects (IGOs) or images into the video stream with the intention of assisting operators in detecting actual significant events. IGOs could potentially represent an infinite range of visual stimuli, but it was argued that only particular visual characteristics are likely to enhance the detection of real significant events, rather than merely facilitating the detection of the IGOs themselves. In addition, the characteristics of IGOs are likely to influence the extent to which their relationship to significant events is understood. The research identified a range of characteristics that could be incorporated into IGO design, and focused on salience and semantic distance for the empirical part of the research. A matched three-group quasi-experimental design involved a sample consisting of 29 specialised CCTV surveillance operators, 13 control room operators doing surveillance, and 31 novices. The task consisted of observing a ninety-minute CCTV video showing general and target behaviour in a video stream of actual work settings. The control group received no IGOs, one treatment group received generic IGOs, and the second treatment group received IGOs with close semantic distances to target behaviours. There were indications that the IGOs had positive effects on alertness and attention sets, but this did not translate into statistically significant improvements in detection rates. Reasons for this included IGO characteristics, the complex and dynamic nature of CCTV displays and significant events, and the dynamic and spatiotemporal properties of the IGOs. Semantic distance was confirmed as an important IGO characteristic. The research demonstrated a number of critical insights into vigilance dynamics and visual processing and highlighted that there are gaps in the understanding of the attention processes that occur in jobs requiring sustained attention. Only half the target behaviours were detected despite all target behaviours being visible, indicating a concerning underperformance in intensive visual detection tasks involving complex work situations. Responses to vigilance demands were highly individualised, with decrements and surges beginning at different times across individuals. Qualitative analyses of participants’ behaviour also found fluctuations in task engagement, suggesting that sustained attention is unstable. Results did not support a steady, linear vigilance decrement for all sub-samples. An increment in detection rates was found for specialised participants after 60 minutes, while novices to surveillance tasks showed a more linear decrement. Work exposure was an important variable that contributed to detection levels and performance fluctuations over time. The research highlights differences between tasks with simple visual stimuli frequently used in vigilance research versus complex real-world tasks in vigilance intensive jobs. Important insights regarding vigilance processes in complex real-world jobs emerged, including the need for active searching processes, visual analysis, high levels of situation awareness and the importance of operator’s frame of reference and approach to the detection task. The research has likely implications for other visual imaging technologies such as x-rays, infrared and thermal imaging, and technology using newer millimetre wave and terahertz based imaging common in security, policing, and defence

Transcriptional Regulation of the CO 2 - Concentrating Mechanism in a Euryhaline, Coastal Marine Cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. Strain PCC 7002: Role of NdhR/CcmR

Cyanobacterial photosynthesis occurs in radically diverse habitats and utilizes various forms of a CO2-concentrating mechanism (CCM) featuring multiple inorganic carbon (Ci) transporters. Cyanobacteria from dynamic environments can transform CCM activit

Family Safeguarding Hertfordshire

Family Safeguarding Hertfordshire is a reform of children’s services that aims to improve how these services work with families, and outcomes for children and their parents. The report evaluates the project and presents local and national lessons

Assessing Natural Infection With Zika Virus In the Southern House Mosquito, \u3ci\u3eCulex quinquefasciatus\u3c/i\u3e, During 2016 in Puerto Rico

The epidemic of Zika in the Western hemisphere has led to intense investigations of all species important in the transmission of Zika virus (ZikV), including putative mosquito vectors. Although evidence points to Stegomyia (= Aedes) (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes as the primary vectors in nature among humans, there remains the possibility that other common mosquito species may be implicated in the rapid spread of the virus. Herein, field-caught Culex quinquefasciatus (Diptera: Culicidae) collected during June 2016 in different neighbourhoods in San Juan, Puerto Rico were examined for the presence of natural infection with ZikV. Stegomyia aegypti (= Aedes aegypti) from the same locations were also analysed. None of the Cx. quinquefasciatus tested showed natural infection for ZikV, whereas S. aegypti tested positive at seven sites. The present results suggest that Cx. quinquefasciatus was not involved in the transmission of ZikV in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2016

Concert recording 2019-03-31a

[Tracks 1-3]. Wind quintet in E♭ major / W.A. Mozart -- [Track 4]. Auburn echoes / Randall E. Faust -- [Track 5]. Aesop fables. 1. The tortoise and the hare [Track 6]. 3. The wind and the sun [Track 7]. 4. The dove and the ant [Track 8]. 5. The mule / Anthony Plog -- [Tracks 9-12]. Haunted America suite / Justin Raines

Development and Application of a Simple Plaque Assay for the Human Malaria Parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

Malaria is caused by an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite that replicates within and destroys erythrocytes. Asexual blood stages of the causative agent of the most virulent form of human malaria, Plasmodium falciparum, can be cultivated indefinitely in vitro in human erythrocytes, facilitating experimental analysis of parasite cell biology, biochemistry and genetics. However, efforts to improve understanding of the basic biology of this important pathogen and to develop urgently required new antimalarial drugs and vaccines, suffer from a paucity of basic research tools. This includes a simple means of quantifying the effects of drugs, antibodies and gene modifications on parasite fitness and replication rates. Here we describe the development and validation of an extremely simple, robust plaque assay that can be used to visualise parasite replication and resulting host erythrocyte destruction at the level of clonal parasite populations. We demonstrate applications of the plaque assay by using it for the phenotypic characterisation of two P. falciparum conditional mutants displaying reduced fitness in vitro

Relationship between emergency presentation, systemic inflammatory response, and cancer-specific survival in patients undergoing potentially curative surgery for colon cancer

Background Emergency presentation is recognized to be associated with poorer cancer-specific survival following curative resection for colorectal cancer. The present study examined the hypothesis that an enhanced systemic inflammatory response, prior to surgery, might explain the impact of emergency presentation on survival. Methods In all, 188 patients undergoing potentially curative resection for colorectal cancer were studied. Of these, 55 (29%) presented as emergencies. The systemic inflammatory response was assessed using the Glasgow Prognostic Score (mGPS), which is the combination of an elevated C-reactive protein (>10 mg/L) and hypoalbuminemia (<35 g/L). Results In the emergency group, tumor stage was greater (P < 0.01), more patients received adjuvant therapy (P < 0.01) more patients had an elevated mGPS (P < 0.01), and more patients died of their disease (P < 0.05). The minimum follow-up was 12 months; the median follow-up of the survivors was 48 months. Emergency presentation was associated with poorer 3-year cancer-specific survival in those patients aged 65 to 74 years (P < 0.01), in both males and females (P < 0.05), in the deprived (P < 0.01), in patients with tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage II disease (P < 0.01), in those who received no adjuvant therapy (P < 0.01), and in the mGPS 0 and 1 groups (P < 0.05) groups. On multivariate survival analysis of patients undergoing potentially curative surgery for TNM stage II colon cancer, emergency presentation (P < 0.05) and mGPS (P < 0.05) were independently associated with cancer-specific survival. Conclusions These results suggest that emergency presentation and the presence of systemic inflammatory response prior to surgery are linked and account for poorer cancer-specific survival in patients undergoing potentially curative surgery for colon cancer. Both emergency presentation and an elevated mGPS should be taken into account when assessing the likely outcome of these patients

Well made plans : catalogue of an exhibition of drawings from the Queensland Architectural Archive in the Fryer Memorial Library, University of Queensland

Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Brisbane City Hall Art Gallery and Museum, 1-29 June 1988