Understanding culture shock ;the adjustment of expatriate sojourners on international assignment

PhD ThesisExpatriate sojourners are often described as experiencing “culture shock” when moving to and settling in a new location. This study challenges the notion of “culture” as a tangible, objective concept that causes a “shock” or a “clash” and argues that it is how individuals and groups deal with the macro socio-political context and micro-cultural situations on a day to day basis that influences how they experience their new environment. In this sense, context is seen as a multidimensional framework for social interaction and adjustment, and this study examines the role that different discourses or worldviews play in interpreting daily life in Cuba, a highly politically sensitive and insular location. Using participant observation techniques, the researcher builds up a rich ethnographic “thick-description” of the daily challenges that international sojourners face when adjusting to a new environment in a particularly challenging location, and, by drawing on accounts of how individuals see the challenges they face and what helps them adapt, describes adjustment as a multi-faceted phenomenon. What is highlighted are the various types of challenges that sojourners experience and the pressures that people and families experience in adapting to new roles in unfamiliar working and living environments. A model for sojourner adjustment is then proposed based on a study of the various social networks that expatriate groups create, and the type and level of personal and institutional resources and social support that might influence adjustment

Care experience, ethnicity and youth justice involvement: key trends and policy implications

This briefing is based on descriptive findings from an ADR UK (Administrative Data Research UK) Research Fellowship project. The project began at Lancaster University and was completed at Manchester Metropolitan University in September 2023. The project involved analysis of new linked datasets from Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and Department for Education (DfE) formed under the Data First initiative. The analysis was carried out in the Office for National Statistics (ONS) Secure Research Service. The analysis utilised DfE data taken from the National Pupil Database containing demographic information and Children Looked After (CLA) datasets detailing children’s social care involvement in England. The analysis also utilised MoJ data from the Police National Computer, which includes information about proven offences and sentencing outcomes in England. The primary focus of the fellowship was to understand the links between care experience (i.e. having been in foster care, children’s homes and/or kinship care), ethnicity and involvement with the youth justice system in England

Anti-schistosomal intervention targets identified by lifecycle transcriptomic analyses

BACKGROUND: Novel methods to identify anthelmintic drug and vaccine targets are urgently needed, especially for those parasite species currently being controlled by singular, often limited strategies. A clearer understanding of the transcriptional components underpinning helminth development will enable identification of exploitable molecules essential for successful parasite/host interactions. Towards this end, we present a combinatorial, bioinformatics-led approach, employing both statistical and network analyses of transcriptomic data, for identifying new immunoprophylactic and therapeutic lead targets to combat schistosomiasis. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Utilisation of a Schistosoma mansoni oligonucleotide DNA microarray consisting of 37,632 elements enabled gene expression profiling from 15 distinct parasite lifecycle stages, spanning three unique ecological niches. Statistical approaches of data analysis revealed differential expression of 973 gene products that minimally describe the three major characteristics of schistosome development: asexual processes within intermediate snail hosts, sexual maturation within definitive vertebrate hosts and sexual dimorphism amongst adult male and female worms. Furthermore, we identified a group of 338 constitutively expressed schistosome gene products (including 41 transcripts sharing no sequence similarity outside the Platyhelminthes), which are likely to be essential for schistosome lifecycle progression. While highly informative, statistics-led bioinformatics mining of the transcriptional dataset has limitations, including the inability to identify higher order relationships between differentially expressed transcripts and lifecycle stages. Network analysis, coupled to Gene Ontology enrichment investigations, facilitated a re-examination of the dataset and identified 387 clusters (containing 12,132 gene products) displaying novel examples of developmentally regulated classes (including 294 schistosomula and/or adult transcripts with no known sequence similarity outside the Platyhelminthes), which were undetectable by the statistical comparisons. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Collectively, statistical and network-based exploratory analyses of transcriptomic datasets have led to a thorough characterisation of schistosome development. Information obtained from these experiments highlighted key transcriptional programs associated with lifecycle progression and identified numerous anti-schistosomal candidate molecules including G-protein coupled receptors, tetraspanins, Dyp-type peroxidases, fucosyltransferases, leishmanolysins and the netrin/netrin receptor complex

Residual stress measurement round robin on an electron beam welded joint between austenitic stainless steel 316L(N) and ferritic steel P91

This paper is a research output of DMW-Creep project which is part of a national UK programme through the RCUK Energy programme and India's Department of Atomic Energy. The research is focussed on understanding the characteristics of welded joints between austenitic stainless steel and ferritic steel that are widely used in many nuclear power generating plants and petrochemical industries as well as conventional coal and gas-fired power systems. The members of the DMW-Creep project have under- taken parallel round robin activities measuring the residual stresses generated by a dissimilar metal weld (DMW) between AISI 316L(N) austenitic stainless steel and P91 ferritic-martensitic steel. Electron beam (EB) welding was employed to produce a single bead weld on a plate specimen and an additional smoothing pass (known cosmetic pass) was then introduced using a defocused beam. The welding re- sidual stresses have been measured by five experimental methods including (I) neutron diffraction (ND), (II) X-Ray diffraction (XRD), (III) contour method (CM), (IV) incremental deep hole drilling (iDHD) and (V) incremental centre hole drilling (iCHD). The round robin measurements of weld residual stresses are compared in order to characterise surface and sub-surface residual stresses comprehensively

Evaluating the Safety Impacts of Flashing Yellow Permissive Left-Turn Indications in Massachusetts: Approach-Level Analysis

Given the novelty of the Flashing Yellow Arrow (FYA) in Massachusetts, this research study provides MassDOT with a greater understanding of their impacts from an approach-level perspective. More so, this study provides the agency with a holistic overview of infrastructure and operational impacts at each of these intersections, ultimately leading to an improved understanding of future design characteristics. Approach-level analyses remain the most appropriate method to assess the true impact of the permissive indication as well as infrastructure (e.g., turn lane length, LT lane offset, etc.) and operational (e.g., clearance intervals, phase sequence, etc.) elements. This study evaluated the before and after crashes at 200 statewide FYA intersections from an approach level to better understand the safety impacts of the LT permissive FYA signal. The advancement of these crash data analytics, methodologies, and applications will continue to remain important in years to come and will increase safety by providing an increased understanding of conflict risk at signalized intersections involving FYAs

ImpZ: a new photometric redshift code for galaxies and quasars

We present a combined galaxy-quasar approach to template-fitting photometric redshift techniques and show the method to be a powerful one. The code (ImpZ) is presented, developed and applied to two spectroscopic redshift catalogues, namely the Isaac Newton Telescope Wide Angle Survey ELAIS N1 and N2 fields and the Chandra Deep Field North. In particular, optical size information is used to improve the redshift determination. The success of the code is shown to be very good with Delta z/(1+z) constrained to within 0.1 for 92 per cent of the galaxies in our sample. The extension of template-fitting to quasars is found to be reasonable with Delta z/(1+z) constrained to within 0.25 for 68 per cent of the quasars in our sample. Various template extensions into the far-UV are also tested.Comment: 21 pages. MNRAS in press. Minor alterations to match MNRAS final proo

On the Limits of Liberalism in Participatory Environmental Governance: Conflict and Conservation in Ukraine\u27s Danube Delta

Participatory management techniques are widely promoted in environmental and protected area governance as a means of preventing and mitigating conflict. The World Bank project that created Ukraine’s Danube Biosphere Reserve included such ‘community participation’ components. The Reserve, however, has been involved in conflicts and scandals in which rumour, denunciation and prayer have played a prominent part. The cases described in this article demonstrate that the way conflict is escalated and mitigated differs according to foundational assumptions about what ‘the political’ is and what counts as ‘politics’. The contrasting forms of politics at work in the Danube Delta help to explain why a 2005 World Bank assessment report could only see failure in the Reserve’s implementation of participatory management, and why liberal participatory management approaches may founder when introduced in settings where relationships are based on non-liberal political ontologies. The author argues that environmental management needs to be rethought in ways that take ontological differences seriously rather than assuming the universality of liberal assumptions about the individual, the political and politics

Digital hypertension management: clinical and cost outcomes of a pilot implementation of the OMRON hypertension management platform

ImportanceHome monitoring of blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive patients can improve outcomes, but challenges to both patient compliance and the effective transmission of home BP readings to physicians can limit the extent to which physicians can use this information to improve care. The OMRON Hypertension Management Platform (OMRON HMP) pairs a home BP cuff with a digital product that tracks data, provides reminders to improve patient compliance, and provides a streamlined source of information to physicians.ObjectiveThe primary objective of the quality improvement (QI) project was to test the hypothesis that use of the OMRON HMP could reduce the number and cost of hypertension related claims, relative to a retrospectively matched cohort of insured members. A secondary objective was to demonstrate improvement in control of BP among patients.DesignEligible members were recruited to the QI project between December 1, 2018 and December 30, 2020 and data collected for six months following recruitment. All members received the OMRON HMP intervention.SettingEnrollment and data collection were coordinated on-site at selected PCP partner providers in Western Pennsylvania. Eligible members were identified from insurance claims data as those receiving care for primary hypertension from participating primary care physicians and/or cardiologists.ParticipantsEligible members were between the ages of 35 and 85, with a diagnosis of primary hypertension. The retrospective cohort was selected from electronic medical records of Highmark-insured patients with hypertension who received care at Allegheny Health Network (AHN), a subsidiary of Highmark Health. Members were matched on baseline BP and lipid measures, age, smoking status, diabetes status, race and sex.InterventionDaily home BP readings were recorded by the OMRON HMP app. Patient data was reviewed by clinical staff on a weekly basis and treatment plans could be adjusted in response to this data.ResultsOMRON HMP users showed a significant increase in the number and cost of hypertension-related claims, contrary to the hypothesis, but did display improvements in control of BP.Conclusions and RelevanceThe use of a digital platform to facilitate at-home BP monitoring appeared to improve BP control but led to increased hypertension-related costs in the short-term