Spirit of Soccer in the Zaatari Refugee Camp

The Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan is home to almost 150,000 refugees from the Syrian conflict—many are children. Spirit of Soccer uses soccer to bring hope and teach the children of Zaatari skills that could save their lives when returning home

‘Rubbing shoulders’: an understanding of networks, relationships and everyday practices is key to parliamentary engagement

Relationships and networks have a big impact on parliamentary engagement. Understanding these dynamics is crucial for those academics looking to work with Parliament as part of disseminating their research. Marc Geddes, Katharine Dommett and Brenton Prosser outline why academics must be able to ‘rub shoulders’ with parliamentary staff, building shared understandings and personal trust which can circumvent common barriers around accessibility of research

Modelling the impact of forest design plans on an endangered mammal species: The eurasian red squirrel

PublishedJournal ArticleThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Associazione Teriologica Italiana via the DOI in this record.© 2016 Associazione Teriologica Italiana.The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) is under threat in the UK from the introduced North American grey squirrel. National measures to save the species include large conifer forest reserves where management encompasses measures to bolster the native species. However, forests are multipurpose environments and foresters have to balance different timber production, amenity and conservation objectives. We present a mathematical modelling framework that examines the impacts of potential felling and restocking plans for two reserves, Kidland and Uswayford forests, in northern England. In collaboration with forest managers, we employed an iterative process that used the model to assess four forest design plans (felling and restocking scenarios) with the aim of improving red squirrel population viability. Overall, the model predicted that extinction in both forests at the same time was rare, but high in Uswayford (84%) alone. Survival could be drastically increased (from 16% to 70%) by felling and restocking adjustments, and improving dispersal between the two adjacent forests. This study provides an exemplar of how modelling can have a direct input to land management to help managers objectively balance the differing pressures of multipurpose forestry.AW, MB and PL are supported in part by a NERC Innovations grant NE/M021319/1

The matching problem within comparative welfare state research: How to bridge abstract theory and specific hypotheses

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Impact of COVID-19 on telepsychiatry at the service and individual patient level across two UK NHS mental health trusts

Background. The effects of COVID-19 on the shift to remote consultations remain to be properly investigated. Objective. To quantify the extent, nature and clinical impact of the use of telepsychiatry during the COVID-19 pandemic and compare it with the data in the same period of the 2 years before the outbreak. Methods. We used deidentified electronic health records routinely collected from two UK mental health Foundation Trusts (Oxford Health (OHFT) and Southern Health (SHFT)) between January and September in 2018, 2019 and 2020. We considered three outcomes: (1) service activity, (2) in-person versus remote modalities of consultation and (3) clinical outcomes using Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) data. HoNOS data were collected from two cohorts of patients (cohort 1: patients with ≥1 HoNOS assessment each year in 2018, 2019 and 2020; cohort 2: patients with ≥1 HoNOS assessment each year in 2019 and 2020), and analysed in clusters using superclasses (namely, psychotic, non-psychotic and organic), which are used to assess overall healthcare complexity in the National Health Service. All statistical analyses were done in Python. Findings. Mental health service activity in 2020 increased in all scheduled community appointments (by 15.4% and 5.6% in OHFT and SHFT, respectively). Remote consultations registered a 3.5-fold to 6-fold increase from February to June 2020 (from 4685 to a peak of 26 245 appointments in OHFT and from 7117 to 24 987 appointments in SHFT), with post-lockdown monthly averages of 23 030 and 22 977 remote appointments/month in OHFT and SHFT, respectively. Video consultations comprised up to one-third of total telepsychiatric services per month from April to September 2020. For patients with dementia, non-attendance rates at in-person appointments were higher than remote appointments (17.2% vs 3.9%). The overall HoNOS cluster value increased only in the organic superclass (clusters 18–21, n=174; p<0.001) from 2019 to 2020, suggesting a specific impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on this population of patients. Conclusions and clinical implications. The rapid shift to remote service delivery has not reached some groups of patients who may require more tailored management with telepsychiatry

Development of high gradient laser wakefield accelerators towards nuclear detection applications at LBNL

Compact high-energy linacs are important to applications including monochromatic gamma sources for nuclear material security applications. Recent laser wakefield accelerator experiments at LBNL demonstrated narrow energy spread beams, now with energies of up to 1 GeV in 3 cm using a plasma channel at low density. This demonstrates the production of GeV beams from devices much smaller than conventional linacs, and confirms the anticipated scaling of laser driven accelerators to GeV energies. Stable performance at 0.5 GeV was demonstrated. Experiments and simulations are in progress to control injection of particles into the wake and hence to improve beam quality and stability. Using plasma density gradients to control injection, stable beams at 1 MeV over days of operation, and with an order of magnitude lower absolute momentum spread than previously observed, have been demonstrated. New experiments are post-accelerating the beams from controlled injection experiments to increase beam quality and stability. Thomson scattering from such beams is being developed to provide collimated multi-MeV monoenergetic gamma sources for security applications from compact devices. Such sources can reduce dose to target and increase accuracy for applications including photofission and nuclear resonance fluorescence

Off-Target Effects of Psychoactive Drugs Revealed by Genome-Wide Assays in Yeast

To better understand off-target effects of widely prescribed psychoactive drugs, we performed a comprehensive series of chemogenomic screens using the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system. Because the known human targets of these drugs do not exist in yeast, we could employ the yeast gene deletion collections and parallel fitness profiling to explore potential off-target effects in a genome-wide manner. Among 214 tested, documented psychoactive drugs, we identified 81 compounds that inhibited wild-type yeast growth and were thus selected for genome-wide fitness profiling. Many of these drugs had a propensity to affect multiple cellular functions. The sensitivity profiles of half of the analyzed drugs were enriched for core cellular processes such as secretion, protein folding, RNA processing, and chromatin structure. Interestingly, fluoxetine (Prozac) interfered with establishment of cell polarity, cyproheptadine (Periactin) targeted essential genes with chromatin-remodeling roles, while paroxetine (Paxil) interfered with essential RNA metabolism genes, suggesting potential secondary drug targets. We also found that the more recently developed atypical antipsychotic clozapine (Clozaril) had no fewer off-target effects in yeast than the typical antipsychotics haloperidol (Haldol) and pimozide (Orap). Our results suggest that model organism pharmacogenetic studies provide a rational foundation for understanding the off-target effects of clinically important psychoactive agents and suggest a rational means both for devising compound derivatives with fewer side effects and for tailoring drug treatment to individual patient genotypes

The contribution of advisory committees and public involvement to large studies: case study

Background: Many large studies have complex advisory committee structures, yet there is no empirical evidence regarding their optimal composition, scope and contribution. The aim of this study was to inform the committee and advice infrastructure for future research studies. Methods: In the context of a five-year study funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research, three advisory committees were formed. In addition, advice was obtained from individual experts. All recommendations received in the start-up phase (first seven months) of the study were recorded, along with the decision about implementation of the recommendation. A particular focus was on the impact of public involvement. Results: A total of 172 recommendations were made, including 70 from 20 individual experts. The recommendations were grouped into five emergent themes: Scientific, Pragmatic, Resources, Committee and Collaboration. Most recommendations related to strengthening existing components or adding new components to the study protocol. Very few recommendations either proposed removing study components or contradicted other recommendations. Three 'implementation criteria' were identified: scientific value, pragmatic feasibility, and paradigmatic consistency. 103 (60%) of recommendations were implemented and 25 (15%) were not implemented. The benefits identified by the research team were improved quality and confidence, and the costs were increased cognitive demands, protocol revision time, and slower progress. Conclusions: The findings are discussed in the context of the wider literature on public involvement in research. Six recommendations are identified. First, have a clear rationale for each advisory committee expressed as terms of reference, and consider the best balance between committees and individual consultation with experts. Second, an early concern of committees is inter-committee communication, so consider cross-representation and copying minutes between committees. Third, match the scope of advisory committees to the study, with a less complex advisory structure for studies with more finalised designs. Fourth, public involvement has a mixed impact, and relies on relationships of trust, which take time to develop. Fifth, carefully consider the match between the scientific paradigm applied in the study and the contribution of different types of knowledge and expertise, and how this will impact on possibilities for taking on advice. Finally, responding to recommendations uses up research team resources, and the costs can be reduced by using the three implementation criteria