Performance Indicators and Benchmarks in Career Guidance in the United Kingdom

At European level, the use of indicators and benchmarks is an essential part of monitoring performance and progress towards the objective the EU has set itself of becoming the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth, with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. To date, there are no European level indicators or benchmarks on guidance and improving quantitative and qualitative monitoring and evaluation is an issue currently under examination by the European Commission Expert Group on Lifelong Guidance

Measuring the Impact of Nextstep Career Advice in the North East of England

In September, 2007, the main contractors of the four nextstep networks in the North East (referred to in this paper as the ‘consortium’) successfully submitted a proposal to the Learning & Skills Council (LSC) for funding to develop a framework for measuring the impact of career advice. It was agreed that the project would result in a practice-based ‘Impact Toolkit’ that would include:- • a set of impact measures that should be used in the new adult careers service with a rationale for their inclusion; • methodologies for each of the impact measures identified; • approaches to obtaining information on progression in learning and work – with templates and case study material; • approaches to measuring soft outcomes; and • suggested Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Reducing Noise in a College Library

published or submitted for publicatio

Voltage-activated currents in somatic muscle of the nematode parasite Ascaris suum

1. Voltage-activated currents in cell bodies of the somatic muscle cells of Ascaris suum were studied using a two-microelectrode voltage-clamp technique. Cells recorded from had resting membrane potentials around -35 mV and had input conductances in the range 1-10 microS. 2. In cells bathed in artificial perienteric fluid, depolarizing steps from a holding potential of -35 mV elicited outward currents at a threshold of -15 mV. These currents had inwardly directed inflections on the rising phase, suggesting the presence of more than one current. Hyperpolarizing steps did not activate current. 3. Tetraethylammonium (TEA+, 69 mmol l-1) blocked the outward currents and allowed a voltage-dependent inactivating Ca2+ current to be observed. The peak current-voltage relationship was U-shaped with a threshold around -15 mV and peak at +5 mV. The reversal potential of the Ca2+ current was estimated by extrapolation to be +45 mV. 4. The permeability of the voltage-activated outward currents was studied by examining reversal potentials of tail currents. The reversal potentials were linearly dependent on the logarithm of the extracellular potassium concentration if extracellular [K+] was greater than 10 mmol l-1. The Na+/K+ permeability ratio of the currents was 0.04. 5. Inactivation, seen as a decline following the peak of the K+ current, was produced by maintained depolarization. The recovery from inactivation was complex and could be described by the sum of two exponentials with time constants of 0.67 s and 20.1 s. Steady-state inactivation of the K+ currents was observed at a range of holding potentials. Only a proportion (34%) of the total K+ current was inactivated by holding potentials more positive than -20 mV. 6. Extracellular application of 5 mmol l-1 4-aminopyridine (4-AP) selectively abolished an early fast component of the K+ current (the peak). The 4-AP-sensitive current decayed quickly with a time constant of around 10 ms; a Boltzmann fit to its activation curve had a half-maximal activation voltage of +14 mV and a 'slope' of 10.5 mV. The 4-AP-resistant current decayed with a time constant of around 1 s; a Boltzmann fit to its activation curve had a half-maximal activation voltage of +29 mV and a 'slope' of 12 mV. 7. Depolarization activates a Ca2+ current and two K+ currents: the K+ currents were separated into lower-threshold, fast-inactivating (Ia-like) and higher-threshold, slowly inactivating (Ik-like) currents

Enabling global clinical collaborations on identifiable patient data: The Minerva Initiative

The clinical utility of computational phenotyping for both genetic and rare diseases is increasingly appreciated; however, its true potential is yet to be fully realized. Alongside the growing clinical and research availability of sequencing technologies, precise deep and scalable phenotyping is required to serve unmet need in genetic and rare diseases. To improve the lives of individuals affected with rare diseases through deep phenotyping, global big data interrogation is necessary to aid our understanding of disease biology, assist diagnosis, and develop targeted treatment strategies. This includes the application of cutting-edge machine learning methods to image data. As with most digital tools employed in health care, there are ethical and data governance challenges associated with using identifiable personal image data. There are also risks with failing to deliver on the patient benefits of these new technologies, the biggest of which is posed by data siloing. The Minerva Initiative has been designed to enable the public good of deep phenotyping while mitigating these ethical risks. Its open structure, enabling collaboration and data sharing between individuals, clinicians, researchers and private enterprise, is key for delivering precision public health

Resident valuation of planned events: an event portfolio pilot study

Residents of the Sunshine Coast region in Queensland, Australia, were surveyed on the subject of planned events in their region with the main aim of determining how and why they value events. It was revealed that residents gained considerable use value from events that they attended as audience or otherwise participated in, expressed strong support for a range of events (with a preference for community festivals), and overall did not believe that problems or costs were serious. Residents also indicated strong nonuse values (being existence, option, and bequest values) for events in general. Our findings are positioned within the body of literature concerning impact assessment (specifically, resident perceptions and attitudes towards events), valuation (i.e., the worth of events), and policy and strategy concerning community events and event tourism

Silver Russel syndrome in an aboriginal patient from Australia

Silver-Russell syndrome (SRS OMIM 180860) is a rare, albeit well-recognized disorder characterized by severe intrauterine and postnatal growth retardation. It remains a clinical diagnosis with a molecular cause identifiable in approximately 60%–70% of patients. We report a 4-year-old Australian Aboriginal girl who was born at 32 weeks gestation with features strongly suggestive of SRS, after extensive investigation she was referred to our undiagnosed disease program (UDP). Genomic sequencing was performed which identified a heterozygous splice site variant in IGF2 which is predicted to be pathogenic by in-silico studies, paternal allelic origin, de novo status, and RNA studies on fibroblasts. We compare clinical findings with reported patients to add to the knowledge base on IGF2 variants and to promote the engagement of other Australian Aboriginal families in genomic medicine