Caring for a child with a learning disability born into the family unit: Women's recollections over time

This is the authors' print-print version of an article published in Scandianavian journal of disability research which is available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15017419.2010.540827Caring over time for a child/young adult with a learning disability requires that the family, and in particular the mother, negotiate their needs with services and professionals, and these negotiations are complicated further by significant behavioural issues in the children. This study reports on a series of interviews undertaken with mothers of children and young adults with learning disabilities and a history of challenging behaviours. The interviews were supplemented by documentary data from clinical and other notes in order to provide a more detailed view of the issues arising from caring over time. Detailed thematic analysis revealed five key themes demonstrating the cumulative effect of caring for someone with such complex needs, the centrality of that individual’s needs to the lives of those interviewed and the ongoing negotiation between family and professionals required in order for the former to work out how to continue caring both effectively and on their own terms. All the names of mothers and children are psuedonyms

The effectiveness of pulsed electrical stimulation (E-PES) in the management of osteoarthritis of the knee: a protocol for a randomised controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is one of the main causes of musculoskeletal disability in the western world. Current available management options provide symptomatic relief (exercise and self-management, medication and surgery) but do not, in general, address the disease process itself. Moreover, adverse effects and complications with some of these interventions (medication and surgery) and the presence of co-morbidities commonly restrict their use. There is clearly a need to investigate treatments that are more widely applicable for symptom management and which may also directly address the disease process itself.</p> <p>In two randomised controlled trials of four and 12 weeks duration, pulsed electrical stimulation was shown to be effective in managing the symptoms of OA of the knee. Laboratory and animal studies demonstrate the capacity of externally applied electric and electromagnetic fields to positively affect chondrocyte proliferation and extracellular matrix protein production. This latter evidence provides strong theoretical support for the use of electrical stimulation to maintain and repair cartilage in the clinical setting and highlights its potential as a disease-modifying modality.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>A double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled, repeated measures trial to examine the effectiveness of pulsed electrical stimulation in providing symptomatic relief for people with OA of the knee over 26 weeks.</p> <p>Seventy people will be recruited and information regarding age, gender, body mass index and medication use will be recorded. The population will be stratified for age, gender and baseline pain levels.</p> <p>Outcome measures will include pain (100 mm VAS and WOMAC 3.1), function (WOMAC 3.1), stiffness (WOMAC 3.1), patient global assessment (100 mm VAS) and quality of life (SF-36). These outcomes will be measured at baseline, four, 16 and 26 weeks. Activity levels will be measured at baseline and 16 weeks using accelerometers and the Human Activity Profile questionnaire. A patient global perceived effect scale (11-point Likert) will be completed at 16 and 26 weeks.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This paper describes the protocol for a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that will contribute to the evidence regarding the use of sub-sensory pulsed electrical stimulation in the management of OA of the knee.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Australian Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12607000492459.</p

An expanding culture of control? The municipal administrative sanctions Act in Belgium

This article provides an in-depth study of the Act on Municipal Administrative Sanctions 1999 (MAS), which is the first major piece of legislation regulating antisocial behaviour in Belgium. MAS provides municipalities with an instrument to sanction antisocial behaviour and conduct perceived to disturb public order. The article uses Garland’s(2001) thesisonthecultureofcontroltoanalysewhetherMAShasledtoincreasedgovernmentcontrol and the exclusion of significant groups of the population. The research is based on a multiple case study in which the application of MAS was analysed over a 25-year period of security policies in Belgium (1985–2010). The Act’s implementation was studied in the two Belgian cities of Antwerp and Liège in order to consider the influence of the Flemish government and the Walloon government, respectively, in this policy area. The article uses insights from this comparison to revisit the culture of control thesis and its limitations in understanding the political competition that exists over the formulation of policies on antisocial behaviour. Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a pluralist worl

Microbial life in the deep terrestrial subsurface

The distribution and function of microorganisms is a vital issue in microbial ecology. The US Department of Energy`s Program, ``Microbiology of the Deep Subsurface,`` concentrates on establishing fundamental scientific information about organisms at depth, and the use of these organisms for remediation of contaminants in deep vadose zone and groundwater environments. This investigation effectively extends the Biosphere hundreds of meters into the Geosphere and has implications to a variety of subsurface activities

Genetic mechanisms of critical illness in COVID-19.

Host-mediated lung inflammation is present1, and drives mortality2, in the critical illness caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Host genetic variants associated with critical illness may identify mechanistic targets for therapeutic development3. Here we report the results of the GenOMICC (Genetics Of Mortality In Critical Care) genome-wide association study in 2,244 critically ill patients with COVID-19 from 208 UK intensive care units. We have identified and replicated the following new genome-wide significant associations: on chromosome 12q24.13 (rs10735079, P = 1.65 × 10-8) in a gene cluster that encodes antiviral restriction enzyme activators (OAS1, OAS2 and OAS3); on chromosome 19p13.2 (rs74956615, P = 2.3 × 10-8) near the gene that encodes tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2); on chromosome 19p13.3 (rs2109069, P = 3.98 ×  10-12) within the gene that encodes dipeptidyl peptidase 9 (DPP9); and on chromosome 21q22.1 (rs2236757, P = 4.99 × 10-8) in the interferon receptor gene IFNAR2. We identified potential targets for repurposing of licensed medications: using Mendelian randomization, we found evidence that low expression of IFNAR2, or high expression of TYK2, are associated with life-threatening disease; and transcriptome-wide association in lung tissue revealed that high expression of the monocyte-macrophage chemotactic receptor CCR2 is associated with severe COVID-19. Our results identify robust genetic signals relating to key host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage in COVID-19. Both mechanisms may be amenable to targeted treatment with existing drugs. However, large-scale randomized clinical trials will be essential before any change to clinical practice

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Maternal Provision and Embryonic Uptake of Calcium in an Oviparous and a Placentotrophic Viviparous Australian Lizard (Lacertilia: Scincidae)

Embryos of oviparous lizards have two sources of calcium for embryonic development: 1) calcium that accumulates in yolk during vitellogenesis, and 2) calcium carbonate deposited in the eggshell from oviductal secretions. Eggs of viviparous lizards lack a calcified eggshell and calcium secreted by the uterus is delivered to the embryo across a placenta. Whereas oviparous lizard embryos recover calcium from the eggshell during late developmental growth stages, viviparous embryos have a lengthy intimate association with the uterus and the potential for an extended interval of placental calcium transfer. We compared the pattern of calcium mobilization of embryos of the viviparous, placentotrophic scincid lizard, Pseudemoia pagenstecheri, to that of a closely related oviparous species, Saproscincus mustelinus, to determine if the timing of uterine calcium secretion was influenced by reproductive mode. Embryos of both species receive a substantial amount of calcium from either the eggshell or placenta (54% and 85% respectively). The ontogeny of calcium uptake by embryos of P. pagenstecheri reveals that the onset of embryonic acquisition of calcium occurs earlier relative to embryonic stage but the timing of peak uterine secretion of calcium is delayed, compared to S. mustelinus