Minimal Cosmogenic Neutrinos

The observed flux of ultra-high energy (UHE) cosmic rays (CRs) guarantees the presence of high-energy cosmogenic neutrinos that are produced via photo-hadronic interactions of CRs propagating through intergalactic space. This flux of neutrinos doesn't share the many uncertainties associated with the environment of the yet unknown CR sources. Cosmogenic neutrinos have nevertheless a strong model dependence associated with the chemical composition, source distribution or evolution and maximal injection energy of UHE CRs. We discuss a lower limit on the cosmogenic neutrino spectrum which depends on the observed UHE CR spectrum and composition and relates directly to experimentally observable and model-independent quantities. We show explicit limits for conservative assumptions about the source evolution.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Young people's attitudes to religious diversity : quantitative approaches from social psychology and empirical theology

This essay discusses the design of the quantitative component of the ‘Young People’s Attitudes to Religious Diversity’ project, conceived by Professor Robert Jackson within the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit, and presents some preliminary findings from the data. The quantitative component followed and built on the qualitative component within a mixed method design. The argument is advanced in seven steps: introducing the major sources of theory on which the quantitative approach builds from the psychology of religion and from empirical theology; locating the empirical traditions of research among young people that have shaped the study; clarifying the notions and levels of measurement employed in the study anticipating the potential for various forms of data analysis; discussing some of the established measures incorporated in the survey; defining the ways in which the sample was structured to reflect the four nations of the UK, and London; illustrating the potential within largely descriptive cross-tabulation forms of analysis; and illustrating the potential within more sophisticated multivariate analytic models

The transferability of the low-cost model to long-haul airline operations

Since their emergence in the US in the mid 1970's there has been significant growth in the low-cost airline sector but with a few notable exceptions low-cost airlines have operated on short-haul routes. This paper examines the extent to which the low-cost model is, or could be, applicable to long-haul operations and whether the recent emergence of long-haul low-cost carriers is a sustainable phenomenon. The authors explore the extent to which elements of the so-called low-cost model might be transferable to long-haul operations. The paper seeks to quantify the potential cost differentials that might be achievable on a long-haul service. The paper also speculates as to the development and sustainability of the low-cost long-haul operations

The Williams Scale of Attitude toward Paganism: development and application among British Pagans

This article builds on the tradition of attitudinal measures of religiosity established by Leslie Francis and colleagues with the Francis Scale of Attitude toward Christianity (and reflected in the Sahin-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Islam, the Katz-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Judaism, and the Santosh-Francis Scale of Attitude toward Hinduism) by introducing a new measure to assess the attitudinal disposition of Pagans. A battery of items was completed by 75 members of a Pagan Summer Camp. These items were reduced to produce a 21-item scale that measured aspects of Paganism concerned with: the God/Goddess, worshipping, prayer, and coven. The scale recorded an alpha coefficient of 0.93. Construct validity of the Williams Scale of Attitude toward Paganism was demonstrated by the clear association with measures of participation in private rituals

Using shared goal setting to improve access and equity: a mixed methods study of the Good Goals intervention

Background: Access and equity in children’s therapy services may be improved by directing clinicians’ use of resources toward specific goals that are important to patients. A practice-change intervention (titled ‘Good Goals’) was designed to achieve this. This study investigated uptake, adoption, and possible effects of that intervention in children’s occupational therapy services. Methods: Mixed methods case studies (n = 3 services, including 46 therapists and 558 children) were conducted. The intervention was delivered over 25 weeks through face-to-face training, team workbooks, and ‘tools for change’. Data were collected before, during, and after the intervention on a range of factors using interviews, a focus group, case note analysis, routine data, document analysis, and researchers’ observations. Results: Factors related to uptake and adoptions were: mode of intervention delivery, competing demands on therapists’ time, and leadership by service manager. Service managers and therapists reported that the intervention: helped therapists establish a shared rationale for clinical decisions; increased clarity in service provision; and improved interactions with families and schools. During the study period, therapists’ behaviours changed: identifying goals, odds ratio 2.4 (95% CI 1.5 to 3.8); agreeing goals, 3.5 (2.4 to 5.1); evaluating progress, 2.0 (1.1 to 3.5). Children’s LoT decreased by two months [95% CI −8 to +4 months] across the services. Cost per therapist trained ranged from £1,003 to £1,277, depending upon service size and therapists’ salary bands. Conclusions: Good Goals is a promising quality improvement intervention that can be delivered and adopted in practice and may have benefits. Further research is required to evaluate its: (i) impact on patient outcomes, effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and (ii) transferability to other clinical contexts

Providing Low-Cost Assistive Equipment Through Home Care Services: The Massachusetts Assistive Equipment Demonstration

This report describes the Massachusetts Assistive Equipment Demonstration, a collaborative project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson’s Home Care Research Initiative and carried out collaboratively by the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the Executive Office of Elder Affairs (EOEA). The purpose of the demonstration was to systematically encourage the use of low-cost assistive equipment among elderly clients through existing case management resources, thereby extending the effectiveness of the Massachusetts home care program by supplementing formal services with expanded use of assistive equipment