A question of degree? An academic future for firearms officers

In this article, we critically consider the issue of graduate training for police officers

Nurses' perceptions of their role in rehabilitation of the older person

peer-reviewedAim The aim of the study was to explore nurses’ perceptions of their role in rehabilitation of the older person. Method Nine participants were interviewed in two rehabilitation units in Ireland. Data were transcribed and analysed using Colaizzi’s (1978) framework. Findings Three main themes emerged: care delivery, collaboration and autonomy/empowerment. Conclusion Nurses have an important role in the rehabilitation of older people, which is often undervalued and ill-defined. Nurses need to recognise and articulate their contribution and value.ACCEPTEDpeer-reviewe

Impact of slurry application method on phosphorus loss in runoff from grassland soils during periods of high soil moisture content

peer-reviewedPrevious studies have reported that the trailing shoe application technique reduces phosphorus (P) in the runoff postslurry application when compared to the traditional splash-plate application technique. However, the effectiveness of the trailing-shoe technique as a means of reducing P losses has not been evaluated when slurry is applied during periods of high soil moisture levels and lower herbage covers. To address this issue, three treatments were examined in a 3 × 4 factorial design split-plot experiment, with treatments comprising three slurry treatments: control (no slurry), splashplate and trailing-shoe, and four slurry application dates: 7 December, 18 January, 1 March and 10 April. Dairy cow slurry was applied at a rate of 20 m3/ha, while simulated runoff was generated 2, 9 and 16 days later and analysed for a range of P fractions. Dissolved reactive P concentrations in runoff at day two was 41% lower when slurry was applied using the trailing-shoe technique, compared to the splash-plate technique (P < 0.05). In addition, P concentrations in runoff were higher (P < 0.05) from slurry applied in December and March compared to slurry applied in January or April, coinciding with periods of higher soil moisture contents. While the latter highlights that ‘calendar’-based non-spreading periods might not always achieve the desired consequences, the study demonstrated that further field-scale investigations into the trailing shoe as a mitigation measure to reduced P loss from agricultural soils is warranted

Impact of slurry application method on phosphorus loss in runoff from grassland soils during periods of high soil moisture content

Abstract Previous studies have reported that the trailing shoe application technique reduces phosphorus (P) in the runoff postslurry application when compared to the traditional splash-plate application technique. However, the effectiveness of the trailing-shoe technique as a means of reducing P losses has not been evaluated when slurry is applied during periods of high soil moisture levels and lower herbage covers. To address this issue, three treatments were examined in a 3 × 4 factorial design split-plot experiment, with treatments comprising three slurry treatments: control (no slurry), splashplate and trailing-shoe, and four slurry application dates: 7 December, 18 January, 1 March and 10 April. Dairy cow slurry was applied at a rate of 20 m3/ha, while simulated runoff was generated 2, 9 and 16 days later and analysed for a range of P fractions. Dissolved reactive P concentrations in runoff at day two was 41% lower when slurry was applied using the trailing-shoe technique, compared to the splash-plate technique (P &lt; 0.05). In addition, P concentrations in runoff were higher (P &lt; 0.05) from slurry applied in December and March compared to slurry applied in January or April, coinciding with periods of higher soil moisture contents. While the latter highlights that ‘calendar’-based non-spreading periods might not always achieve the desired consequences, the study demonstrated that further field-scale investigations into the trailing shoe as a mitigation measure to reduced P loss from agricultural soils is warranted.</jats:p

Evaluation of Chemcatcher® passive samplers for pesticide monitoring using high-frequency catchment scale data

Publication history: Accepted - 13 September 2022; Published online - 30 September 2022Passive samplers (PS) have been proposed as an enhanced water quality monitoring solution in rivers, but their performance against high-frequency data over the longer term has not been widely explored. This study compared the performance of Chemcatcher® passive sampling (PS) devices with high-frequency sampling (HFS: 7-hourly to daily) in two dynamic rivers over 16 months. The evaluation was based on the acid herbicides MCPA (2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid), mecoprop-P, fluroxypyr and triclopyr. The impact of river discharge parameters on Chemcatcher® device performance was also explored. Mixed effects modelling showed that time-weighted mean concentration (TWMC) and flow-weighted mean concentration (FWMC) values obtained by the HFS approach were both significantly higher (p 0.05). There was little indication that river flow parameters altered PS performance—some minor effects were not significant or consistent. Despite this, the PS recovery of very low concentrations indicated that Chemcatcher® devices may be used to evaluate the presence/absence and magnitude of acid herbicides in hydrologically dynamic rivers in synoptic type surveys where space and time coverage is required. However, a period of calibration of the devices in each river would be necessary if they were intended to provide a quantitative review of pesticide concentration as compared with HFS approaches.This work was funded in part by the Source to Tap project (project reference IVA5018 – http://www.sourcetotap.eu), supported by the European Union’s INTERREG VA Programme which is managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB). The work was also part-funded by the FAIRWAY project (project reference 727984 - http://www.fair way-project.eu/). supported by the European Union’s HORIZON 2020 Programme

Approaches to herbicide (MCPA) pollution mitigation in drinking water source catchments using enhanced space and time monitoring

Publication history: Accepted - 30 September 2020; Published online - 8 October 2020Freshwater occurrences of the selective acid herbicide 2-methyl-4-chloro-phenoxyacetic acid (MCPA) are an ongoing regulatory and financial issue for water utility industries as the number and magnitude of detections increase, particularly in surface water catchments. Assessments for mitigating pesticide pollution in catchments used as drinking water sources require a combination of catchment-based and water treatment solutions, but approaches are limited by a lack of empirical data. In this study, an enhanced spatial (11 locations) and temporal (7-hourly to daily sampling) monitoring approach was employed to address these issues in an exemplar surface water source catchment (384 km2). The spatial sampling revealed that MCPA was widespread, with occurrences above the 0.1 μg L−1 threshold for a single pesticide being highly positively correlated to sub-catchments with higher proportions of ‘Improved Grassland’ land use (r = 0.84). These data provide a strong foundation for targeting catchment-based mitigation solutions and also add to the debate on the ecosystems services provided by such catchments. Additionally, of the 999 temporal samples taken over 12 months from the catchment outlet, 25% were above the drinking water threshold of 0.1 μg L−1. This prevalence of high concentrations presents costly problems for source water treatment. Using these data, abstraction shutdowns were simulated for five scenarios using hydrometeorological data to explore the potential to avoid intake of high MCPA concentrations. The scenarios stopped abstraction for 4.2–9.3% of the April–October period and reduced intake of water containing over 0.1 μg L−1 of MCPA by 16–31%. This represents an important development for real-time proxy assessments for water abstraction in the absence of more direct pesticide monitoring data.This work was funded by the Source to Tap project (project reference IVA5018 – www.sourcetotap.eu). The Source to Tap project is supported by the European Union's INTERREG VA Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB)

Pathways for nutrient loss to water with emphasis on phosphorus

Teagasc wishes to acknowledge the support of the Environmental Research Technological Development and Innovation (ERTDI) Programme under the Productive Sector Operational Programme which was financed by the Irish Government under the National Development Plan 2000-2006.End of project reportThe main objective of this project was to study phosphorus (P) loss from agricultural land under a range of conditions in Ireland, to quantify the main factors influencing losses and make recommendations on ways to reduce these losses. This report is a synthesis of the main conclusions and recommendations from the results of the studies. The final reports from the individual sub-projects in this project are available from the EPA (www.epa.ie).Environmental Protection Agenc

Mapping the undergraduate dermatology curriculum – a useful tool towards implementation of national recommendations

Despite the high prevalence of skin complaints in primary and secondary care, dermatology undergraduate (UG) education remains inconsistent across medical schools. The British Association of Dermatologists (BAD) published a revised national undergraduate curriculum in 2016 to guide UK medical schools on minimum competencies required in dermatology. A curriculum mapping study was conducted to determine the alignment of the BAD UG curriculum with the dermatology curriculum of the University of Nottingham (UoN) School of Medicine. Of the 70 intended learning outcomes (ILOs) for dermatology in the medical school, 55 (79%) were mapped to the BAD curriculum, 14 (20%) required modifications to align them with the BAD ILOs, 2 BAD outcomes were unspecified in the current curriculum, and 1 outcome overlapped with others and was deemed redundant. Curriculum mapping is a useful tool to standardise local dermatology ILOs to national recommendations and provides transparency to stakeholders for implementation of the dermatology curriculum

Diagnostic change 10 years after a first episode of psychosis

Background. A lack of an aetiologically based nosology classification has contributed to instability in psychiatric diag-noses over time. This study aimed to examine the diagnostic stability of psychosis diagnoses using data from an inci-dence sample of psychosis cases, followed up after 10 years and to examine those baseline variables which were associated with diagnostic change. Method. Data were examined from the ÆSOP and ÆSOP-10 studies, an incidence and follow-up study, respectively, of a population-based cohort of first-episode psychosis cases from two sites. Diagnosis was assigned using ICD-10 and DSM-IV-TR. Diagnostic change was examined using prospective and retrospective consistency. Baseline variables asso-ciated with change were examined using logistic regression and likelihood ratio tests. Results. Slightly more (59.6%) cases had the same baseline and lifetime ICD-10 diagnosis compared with DSM-IV-TR (55.3%), but prospective and retrospective consistency was similar. Schizophrenia, psychotic bipolar disorder and drug-induced psychosis were more prospectively consistent than other diagnoses. A substantial number of cases with other diagnoses at baseline (ICD-10, n = 61; DSM-IV-TR, n = 76) were classified as having schizophrenia at 10 years