From Mission Hall to Church: Theology, Culture and Architecture on a South London Estate

In the UK, small faith buildings of “ordinary” appearance, occupied by Christian congregations who reject ideas of sacred space, have tended to be passed over by the historical record and continue to be overlooked by some heritage professionals. The primary significance of these humble buildings is not located in the acquisition and possession of symbolic artefacts and adornments, nor in architectural gestures designed to indicate the holiness of a space, but rather in the lack of such things, and in the deliberate maintenance of the ordinary and the functional. This article takes as its case study a former mission hall situated on a South London Estate, occupied by a church called The Bridge from 2010 to 2022. Considering the building in the wider social and historical context of urban mission halls, the article explores how The Bridge Church embodied Reformed Protestant theological beliefs about spaces of worship to suit the setting of a London estate in the twenty-first century, with modesty and utility demonstrated in their building inside and out

The case for 100000 tonnes/year integrated iron and steel plants for emergent countries

The Development of an iron and steel industry is affected by many factors which vary considerably from country to country, and it is obvious that no overall rules can be laid down which would govern all eventualities. Nevertheless, the problem which faces many countries which are just emerging as iron and steel producers, shows certain similarities which can be summarized as follows: (i) in most cases, steelmaking is either non-existent or in comparison with the more developed countries, of extremely low capacity (ii) these countries often cover wide territories with under-developed communications systems (iii) these countries are usually associated with a relatively low standard of living. The raising of this standard for the greatest number of people is urgent (iv) capital for investment and foreign exchange is scarce and the demand on both is heavy

A Machine for Pasture Interseeding

A pasture interseeding machine that interseeds legumes and grasses in established grasslands has been developed by the Agricultural Engineering Department of South Dakota State University. The pasture interseeding machine cuts four furrows approximately 4 inches wide, 2 inches deep and 30 inches apart. Seeds are placed in a seedbed prepared in these furrows. The furrows eliminate some competition from the existing sod and minimize runoff and erosion if placed on the contour. SDSU agricultural engineers designed the machine so the spring-loaded coulters and inclined disks cut slices of sod and soil. These slices are displaced to the sides of the cut furrows. Seeds are planted with furrow openers operating in the cut furrows. The results of interseeding legumes and grasses in grassland during 1969, 1970 and 1971 were favorable when adequate moisture and weather conditions prevailed. Most furrows and sod slices produced while interseeding will weather (see Figures 1 and 2), thus, maintenance of the grassland will not be severely handicapped. Results show much promise of increasing production and quality of grasslands

User-centered design and reference services in international librarianship: a case study of Nazarbayev University Library

Major changes over the past decade have moved Kazakhstan and its university students out of the old Soviet model of education and into the realm of international scholarship. While students from this region are being prepared in new and innovative ways, their research needs are still unique and require a firm understanding on the part of academic librarians. With an eye to better serving students at Nazarbayev University, librarians undertook a usability of the library’s web resources in February 2013. This article presents findings from the study, which address the distinct needs of university students from post-Soviet nations

Ambiguity Uncertainty and Risk: Reframing the task of suicide risk assessment and prevention in acute in-patient mental health

The work of the National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide by People with Mental Illness has served to draw attention to the issue of suicide amongst users of mental health services including inpatient and provided the basis for a series of recommendations aimed at improving practice (Appleby et al., 2001, NIMHE 2003). Such recommendations include further training on risk assessment for practitioners. However, representing the problem of suicide as one which can be 'managed' by risk assessment particularly quantitative actuarial approaches implicitly misrepresents the phenomena of suicidality as something which can predicted and therefore managed may be inherently unpredictable at the level of the individual over the short term. We need instead to acknowledge that our work with service users who may be contemplating suicide embraces and acknowledges both uncertainty and ambiguity and seeks to assess risk phenomenologically at the level of the individual such that by understanding their reasons for living and dying we can work in partnership with them to find hope

Ablation debris control by means of closed thick film filtered water immersion

The performance of laser ablation generated debris control by means of open immersion techniques have been shown to be limited by flow surface ripple effects on the beam and the action of ablation plume pressure loss by splashing of the immersion fluid. To eradicate these issues a closed technique has been developed which ensured a controlled geometry for both the optical interfaces of the flowing liquid film. This had the action of preventing splashing, ensuring repeatable machining conditions and allowed for control of liquid flow velocity. To investigate the performance benefits of this closed immersion technique bisphenol A polycarbonate samples have been machined using filtered water at a number of flow velocities. The results demonstrate the efficacy of the closed immersion technique: a 93% decrease in debris is produced when machining under closed filtered water immersion; the average debris particle size becomes larger, with an equal proportion of small and medium sized debris being produced when laser machining under closed flowing filtered water immersion; large debris is shown to be displaced further by a given flow velocity than smaller debris, showing that the action of flow turbulence in the duct has more impact on smaller debris. Low flow velocities were found to be less effective at controlling the positional trend of deposition of laser ablation generated debris than high flow velocities; but, use of excessive flow velocities resulted in turbulence motivated deposition. This work is of interest to the laser micromachining community and may aide in the manufacture of 2.5D laser etched patterns covering large area wafers and could be applied to a range of wavelengths and laser types

The use and impact of digital COVID-19 tracking in adult social care: a prospective cohort study of care homes in Greater Manchester

Background: To support proactive care during the coronavirus pandemic, a digital COVID-19 symptom tracker was deployed in Greater Manchester (UK) care homes. This study aimed to understand what factors were associated with the post-uptake use of the tracker and whether the tracker had any effects in controlling the spread of COVID-19. Methods: Daily data on COVID-19, tracker uptake and use, and other key indicators such as staffing levels, the number of staff self-isolating, availability of personal protective equipment, bed occupancy levels, and any problems in accepting new residents were analysed for 547 care homes across Greater Manchester for the period April 2020 to April 2021. Differences in tracker use across local authorities, types of care homes, and over time were assessed using correlated effects logistic regressions. Differences in numbers of COVID-19 cases in homes adopting versus not adopting the tracker were compared via event design difference-in-difference estimations. Results: Homes adopting the tracker used it on 44% of days post-adoption. Use decreased by 88% after one year of uptake (odds ratio 0.12; 95% confidence interval 0.06-0.28). Use was highest in the locality initiating the project (odds ratio 31.73; 95% CI 3.76-268.05). Care homes owned by a chain had lower use (odds ratio 0.30; 95% CI 0.14-0.63 versus single ownership care homes), and use was not associated with COVID-19 or staffing levels. Tracker uptake had no impact on controlling COVID-19 spread. Staff self-isolating and local area COVID-19 cases were positively associated with lagged COVID-19 spread in care homes (relative risks 1.29; 1.2-1.4 and 1.05; 1.0-1.1, respectively). Conclusions: The use of the COVID-19 symptom tracker in care homes was not maintained except in Locality 1 and did not appear to reduce the COVID-19 spread. COVID-19 cases in care homes were mainly driven by care home local-area COVID-19 cases and infections among the staff members. Digital deterioration trackers should be co-produced with care home staff, and local authorities should provide long-term support in their adoption and use

Embedding robotic surgery into routine practice and impacts on communication and decision making: A review of the experience of surgical teams

While an increasing number of healthcare providers are purchasing surgical robots because of anticipated improvements in patient outcomes, their implementation into practice is highly variable. In robotic surgery, the surgeon is physically separated from the patient and the rest of the team with the potential to impact communication and decision making in the operating theatre and subsequently patient safety. Drawing on the approach of realist evaluation, in this article we review reports of the experience of surgical teams that have introduced robotic surgery to identify how and in what contexts robotic surgery is successfully integrated into practice and how and in what contexts it affects communication and decision making. Our analysis indicates that, while robotic surgery might bring about a number of benefits, it also creates new challenges. Robotic surgery is associated with increased operation duration, which has implications for patient safety, but strategies to reduce it can be effective with appropriate support from hospital administration and nursing management. The separation of the surgeon from the team can compromise communication but may be overcome through use of standardised communication. While surgeon situation awareness may be affected by the separation, the ergonomic benefits of robotic surgery may reduce stress and tiredness and enhance surgeon decision making. Our review adds to the existing literature by revealing strategies to support the introduction of robotic surgery and contextual factors that need to be in place for these to be effective

Improvement in immune parameters and human immunodeficiency virus-1 viral response in individuals treated with 16α-bromoepiandrosterone (HE2000)

ABSTRACTA randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study examined the safety, tolerance, immunological effect and anti-human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) activity of sub-cutaneously administered HE2000 (16α-bromoepiandrosterone) as monotherapy in treatment-naïve patients with HIV-1. Twenty-four patients received five sequential daily doses of 50 or 100 mg of HE2000 or placebo every 6 weeks for up to three courses, and were followed thereafter for 3 months. HE2000 was safe, with transient injection site reactions being the main side-effect. Peripheral blood samples, collected serially, were analysed for changes in immune cell phenotypes. Significant increases were observed in the numbers of circulating dendritic cells, early activated (CD69+CD25–) CD8 T-cells and T-NK cells after administration of 50-mg doses of HE2000 (p <0.05). Gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells was analysed by real-time RT-PCR. Before treatment, HIV-1-infected patients had significantly elevated transcripts for a number of inflammatory mediators (p <0.012). After 50 mg or 100 mg HE2000, but not after placebo, there were significant sustained decreases in IL-1β, TNF-α, IL-6 and Cox-2 transcripts (p <0.05). There were no significant differences in CD4 cell numbers, although patients receiving 50-mg doses demonstrated a significant decrease in viral load (– 0.6 log; p <0.01). Anti-HIV-1 T-cell responses were analysed serially using GAG-peptides to stimulate cytoplasmic IFN-γ responses. After three courses, the 50-mg dose group demonstrated a significant increase in CD8 T-cell response against two distinct GAG peptide pools (p <0.03). These findings suggest that immune-based therapies may be able to impact viral load by decreasing inflammation and/or stimulating CD8 T-cells