Loneliness and the letter: Co-developing cross-generational letter writing with higher education students and older people

Writing Back is an intergenerational letter-writing project that has been matching University of Leeds students as pen pals with older Yorkshire residents since 2014. Working in collaboration with a principal investigator based in the university's School of English, students and older participants have been facilitating conversation about loneliness, home and belonging via their exchange of cross-generational correspondence and their engagement with archival images of the county. This article reflects upon the successes and limitations of using co-productive letter writing and visual methodologies in qualitative loneliness research. In carrying out a narrative analysis of Writing Back's correspondence, it demonstrates how letter writing can be used as an effective methodological tool to generate new understanding of loneliness in multiple age demographics

What is the impact of public care on children's welfare? A review of research findings from England and Wales and their policy implications.

The outcomes for children in public care are generally considered to be poor. This has contributed to a focus on reducing the number of children in care: a goal that is made explicit in the provisions of the current Children and Young Persons Bill. Yet while children in care do less well than most children on a range of measures, such comparisons do not disentangle the extent to which these difficulties pre-dated care and the specific impact of care on child welfare. This article explores the specific impact of care through a review of British research since 1991 that provides data on changes in child welfare over time for children in care. Only 12 studies were identified, indicating a lack of research in this important area. The studies consistently found that children entering care tended to have serious problems but that in general their welfare improved over time. This finding is consistent with the international literature. It has important policy implications. Most significantly it suggests that attempts to reduce the use of public care are misguided, and may place more children at risk of serious harm. Instead, it is argued that England and Wales should move toward a Scandinavian system of public care, in which care is seen as a form of family support and is provided for more rather than fewer children and families

Evaluation of the Ontario Mediation Program (Rule 24.1) Final Report: The First 23 Months

https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/faculty_books/1142/thumbnail.jp

Comparison of the Near-Threshold Production of eta- and K-Mesons in Proton-Proton Collisions

The pp -> pp eta and pp -> pLambda K^+ reactions near threshold are dominated by the first and second S_11 resonance respectively. It is shown that a one-pion-exchange model exciting these isobars reproduces well the ratio of the production cross sections. The consequences for this and other channels are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX2e, 1 eps-figur

Evaluation of the Ontario Mediation Program (Rule 24.1) Final Report: The First 23 Months

https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/faculty_books/1142/thumbnail.jp

Video-game epilepsy: a European study.

Epilepsia. 1999;40 Suppl 4:70-4. Video-game epilepsy: a European study. Kasteleijn-Nolst Trenité DG, da Silva AM, Ricci S, Binnie CD, Rubboli G, Tassinari CA, Segers JP. Stichting Epilepsie Instellingen Nederland, Heemstede, The Netherlands. [email protected] Abstract With the introduction of Nintendo video-games on a large scale, reports of children having seizures while playing suggested a possible specific, provocative factor. Although 50% of the photosensitive patients are also sensitive to a 50-Hz television, nonphotosensitive patients with a history of video-game seizures were described as well. The question arises whether this is a mere coincidence, provoked by fatigue and stress, is related to the reaction to the television screen itself, or depends on the movement and color of the pictures of this specific game. A European study was performed in four countries and five sites. All patients were selected because of a history of television, video- or computer-game seizures, with a history of sun-light-, discotheque-, or black and white pattern-evoked seizures, or were already known to be sensitive to intermittent photic stimulation. A total of 387 patients were investigated; 220 (75%) were female and 214 (55%) of those were < 18 years of age. After a routine examination, intermittent photic, pattern, and television stimulation were performed in a standardized way. The patients were investigated with Super Mario World and a standard relatively nonprovocative TV program, both on a 50- and 100-Hz television. Regardless of the distance, Super Mario World proved to be more provocative than the standard program (Wilcoxon, p < 0.05). Eighty-five percent showed epileptiform discharges evoked by intermittent photic stimulation. Forty-five percent of patients were 50-Hz television sensitive and 26% were 100-Hz television sensitive. Pattern sensitivity was found in 28% of patients. The patients, referred because of a television, video- or computer-game seizure, were significantly more sensitive to pattern and to the 50-Hz television (chi square, p < 0.001). More patients are sensitive when playing Super Mario, compared with the standard program (Wilcoxon, p = 0.001) and more sensitive with playing versus viewing (p = 0.016). Of the patients who were referred because of seizures in front of the television, or evoked by a video- or computer game, 14% proved not to be photosensitive. Although no difference in age or use of medication was found, twice as many men were found in this nonphotosensitive group. PMID: 10487177 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE

Recombinant Fibrinogen Studies Reveal That Thrombin Specificity Dictates Order of Fibrinopeptide Release

During cleavage of fibrinogen by thrombin, fibrinopeptide A (FpA) release precedes fibrinopeptide B (FpB) release. To examine the basis for this ordered release, we synthesized A'beta fibrinogen, replacing FpB with a fibrinopeptide A-like peptide, FpA' (G14V). Analyses of fibrinopeptide release from A'beta fibrinogen showed that FpA release and FpA' release were similar; the release of either peptide followed simple first-order kinetics. Specificity constants for FpA and FpA' were similar, demonstrating that these peptides are equally competitive substrates for thrombin. In the presence of Gly-Pro-Arg-Pro, an inhibitor of fibrin polymerization, the rate of FpB release from normal fibrinogen was reduced 3-fold, consistent with previous data; in contrast, the rate of FpA' release from A'beta fibrinogen was unaffected. Thus, with A'beta fibrinogen, fibrinopeptide release from the beta chain is similar to fibrinopeptide release from the alpha chain. We conclude that the ordered release of fibrinopeptides is dictated by the specificity of thrombin for its substrates. We analyzed polymerization, following changes in turbidity, and found that polymerization of A'beta fibrinogen was similar to that of normal fibrinogen. We analyzed clot structure by scanning electron microscopy and found that clots from A'beta fibrinogen were similar to clots from normal fibrinogen. We conclude that premature release of the fibrinopeptide from the N terminus of the beta chain does not affect polymerization of fibrinogen

Near-Threshold Production of omega Mesons in the pp -> pp omega Reaction

The total cross section for omega production in the pp -> pp omega reaction has been measured at five c.m. excess energies from 3.8 to 30 MeV. The energy dependence is easily understood in terms of a strong proton-proton final state interaction combined with a smearing over the width of the state. The ratio of near-threshold phi and omega production is consistent with the predictions of a one-pion-exchange model and the degree of violation of the OZI rule is similar to that found in the pi-p -> n omega/phi reactions.Comment: Report in LaTeX2e. 12 pages with 2 eps figure