Amikacin concentrations and target ranges for mycobacterial infection

The aim of this research is to determine whether amikacin dosage guidelines for multi - drug resistant mycobacterial infections achieve peaks of 35 - 45 mg/L (OD) or 65 - 80 mg/L (TW) and troughs <5 mg/L

EDP2PDF: a computer program for extracting a pair distribution function from an electron diffraction pattern for the structural analysis of materials

Pair distribution function (PDF) analysis is a powerful technique to understand atomic scale structure in materials science. Unlike X-ray diffraction (XRD)based PDF analysis, the PDF calculated from electron diffraction patterns (EDPs) using transmission electron microscopy can provide structural information from specific locations with high spatial resolution. The present work describes a new software tool for both periodic and amorphous structures that addresses several practical challenges in calculating the PDF from EDPs. The key features of this program include accurate background subtraction using a nonlinear iterative peak-clipping algorithm and automatic conversion of various types of diffraction intensity profiles into a PDF without requiring external software. The present study also evaluates the effect of background subtraction and the elliptical distortion of EDPs on PDF profiles. The EDP2PDF software is offered as a reliable tool to analyse the atomic structure of crystalline and non-crystalline materials

Is Scotland a Westminster-style Majoritarian Democracy or a Scandinavian-style Consensus Democracy? A Comparison of Scotland, the UK and Sweden

Peer reviewedPostprin

Introduction: Policymaking, Learning and Devolution

This collection explores the idea that devolution in European states can provide &lsquo;laboratories of democracy' as states experiment in different ways to address social and economic problems and engage their citizens. While there is a substantial literature on policy diffusion and learning among US states, and on transfer and learning between countries, there is not much on learning among European federated and devolved governments. This collection fills that gap with a series of studies based primarily on experiences in Germany, Spain and the UK (including a particular focus on Northern Ireland). The introduction sets up the analytical framework, discussing the concepts of learning and transfer, the direction of transfer (for example, from the centre to the devolved territory), the mechanisms involved (from voluntary to coercive) and the degree of transfer

Implementation and the Governance Problem: A Pressure Participant Perspective

This article has two aims: to qualify the UK government's &lsquo;problem' of governance in a comparison with Scotland and Wales, and to use implementation studies (the ancestors of the new governance literature) to explore policy developments since devolution in Britain. It presents a puzzling finding from extensive interview research: that while we may expect UK government policy to suffer a bigger &lsquo;implementation gap' based on distinctive governance problems (such as greater service delivery fragmentation and the unintended consequences of top-down policy styles), pressure participants in Scotland and Wales are more likely to report implementation failures. Using a &lsquo;top-down' framework, it explores three main explanations for this finding: that the size of the implementation gap in England is exaggerated by a focus on particular governance problems; that pressure participant dissatisfaction follows unrealistic expectations in the devolved territories; and that the UK government undermines devolved policy implementation, by retaining control of key policy instruments and setting the agenda on measures of implementation success

What is the 'dominant model' of British policymaking? Comparing majoritarian and policy community ideas

The aim of this article is to help identify the fundamental characteristics of the British policymaking system. It highlights an enduring conflict of interpretation within the literature. On the one hand, most contemporary analysts argue that the ‘Westminster model' is outmoded and that it has been replaced by modern understandings based on ‘governance'. On the other, key ideas associated with the Westminster model, regarding majoritarian government and policy imposition, are still in good currency in the academic literature, which holds firm to Lijphart's description of the United Kingdom as a majoritarian democracy. These very different understandings of British government are both commonly cited, but without much recognition that their conclusions may be mutually incompatible. To address this lack of comparison of competing narratives, the article outlines two main approaches to describe and explain the ‘characteristic and durable' ways of doing things in Britain: the ‘policy styles' literature initiated by Richardson in Policy Styles in Western Europe and the Lijphart account found in Democracies and revised in 1999 as Patterns of Democracy. The article encourages scholars to reject an appealing compromise between majoritarian and governance accounts

Fracture toughness testing using photogrammetry and digital image correlation

Digital image correlation (DIC) is an optical technique commonly used for measuring displacement fields by tracking artificially applied random speckle patterns, which can sometimes be a problem for tracking small-scale displacements. DIC is particularly useful for tracking the crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD) of a notched metallic specimen subjected to three-point bending for fracture toughness determination because the edges of the notch provide the required textural features for DIC without the need for speckle patterns. This simplifies the set-up process as the specimen and stage geometries do not need to account for the placement of a strain gauge. To enhance the accuracy of DIC, this study then successfully downscaled a photogrammetry technique commonly used to track crack propagation in large scale concrete tests so that the pixel coordinates of the captured images can be automatically related to their real-world coordinates, allowing for small scale displacements to be accurately tracked.ARC Linkage Project LP130100111, ARC DECRA DE15010170

Has Devolution Changed the 'British Policy Style'?

The term &lsquo;policy style' simply means the way that governments make and implement policy. Yet, the term &lsquo;British policy style' may be confusing since it has the potential to relate to British exceptionalism or European convergence. Lijphart's important contribution identifies the former. It sets up a simple distinction between policy styles in majoritarian and consensual democracies and portrays British policy-making as top down and different from a consensual European approach. In contrast, Richardson identifies a common &lsquo;European policy style'. This suggests that although the political structures of each country vary, they share a &lsquo;standard operating procedure' based on two factors - an incremental approach to policy and an attempt to reach a consensus with interest groups rather than impose decisions. This article extends these arguments to British politics since devolution. It questions the assumption that policy styles are diverging within Britain. Although consultation in the devolved territories may appear to be more consensual, they are often contrasted with a caricature of the UK process based on atypical examples of top-down policy-making. While there may be a different &lsquo;feel' to participation in Scotland and Wales, a similar logic of consultation and bureaucratic accommodation exists in the UK. This suggests that, although devolution has made a difference, a British (or European) policy style can still be identified

Developing reading-writing connections; the impact of explicit instruction of literary devices on the quality of children's narrative writing

The purpose of this collaborative schools-university study was to investigate how the explicit instruction of literary devices during designated literacy sessions could improve the quality of children's narrative writing. A guiding question for the study was: Can children's writing can be enhanced by teachers drawing attention to the literary devices used by professional writers or “mentor authors”? The study was conducted with 18 teachers, working as research partners in nine elementary schools over one school year. The research group explored ways of developing children as reflective authors, able to draft and redraft writing in response to peer and teacher feedback. Daily literacy sessions were complemented by weekly writing workshops where students engaged in authorial activity and experienced writers' perspectives and readers' demands (Harwayne, 1992; May, 2004). Methods for data collection included video recording of peer-peer and teacher-led group discussions and audio recording of teacher-child conferences. Samples of children's narrative writing were collected and a comparison was made between the quality of their independent writing at the beginning and end of the research period. The research group documented the importance of peer-peer and teacher-student discourse in the development of children's metalanguage and awareness of audience. The study suggests that reading, discussing, and evaluating mentor texts can have a positive impact on the quality of children's independent writing