Unsung heroes: who supports social work students on placement?

Since the introduction of the three year degree programme in 2003, social work education has undergone a number of significant changes. The time students spend on placement has been increased to two hundred days, and the range of placement opportunities and the way in which these placements have been configured has significantly diversified. A consistent feature over the years, however, has been the presence of a Practice Educator (PE) who has guided, assessed and taught the student whilst on placement. Unsurprisingly, the role of the PE and the pivotal relationship they have with the student has been explored in the past and features in social work literature. This paper, however, concentrates on a range of other relationships which are of significance in providing support to students on placement. In particular it draws on research to discuss the role of the university contact tutor, the place of the wider team in which the student is sited, and the support offered by family, friends and others. Placements and the work undertaken by PE’s will continue to be integral to the delivery of social work education. It is, however, essential to recognise and value the often over looked role of others in providing support to students on placement

Higher heritabilities for gait components than for overall gait scores may improve mobility in ducks

International audienceAbstractBackgroundGenetic progress in selection for greater body mass and meat yield in poultry has been associated with an increase in gait problems which are detrimental to productivity and welfare. The incidence of suboptimal gait in breeding flocks is controlled through the use of a visual gait score, which is a subjective assessment of walking ability of each bird. The subjective nature of the visual gait score has led to concerns over its effectiveness in reducing the incidence of suboptimal gait in poultry through breeding. The aims of this study were to assess the reliability of the current visual gait scoring system in ducks and to develop a more objective method to select for better gait.ResultsExperienced gait scorers assessed short video clips of walking ducks to estimate the reliability of the current visual gait scoring system. Kendall’s coefficients of concordance between and within observers were estimated at 0.49 and 0.75, respectively. In order to develop a more objective scoring system, gait components were visually scored on more than 4000 pedigreed Pekin ducks and genetic parameters were estimated for these components. Gait components, which are a more objective measure, had heritabilities that were as good as, or better than, those of the overall visual gait score.ConclusionsMeasurement of gait components is simpler and therefore more objective than the standard visual gait score. The recording of gait components can potentially be automated, which may increase accuracy further and may improve heritability estimates. Genetic correlations were generally low, which suggests that it is possible to use gait components to select for an overall improvement in both economic traits and gait as part of a balanced breeding programme

Groin wound infection after vascular exposure ( GIVE ) multicentre cohort study

Surgical site infections (SSIs) of groin wounds are a common and potentially preventable cause of morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs in vascular surgery. Our aim was to define the contemporaneous rate of groin SSIs, determine clinical sequelae, and identify risk factors for SSI. An international multicentre prospective observational cohort study of consecutive patients undergoing groin incision for femoral vessel access in vascular surgery was undertaken over 3 months, follow‐up was 90 days. The primary outcome was the incidence of groin wound SSI. 1337 groin incisions (1039 patients) from 37 centres were included. 115 groin incisions (8.6%) developed SSI, of which 62 (4.6%) were superficial. Patients who developed an SSI had a significantly longer length of hospital stay (6 versus 5 days, P = .005), a significantly higher rate of post‐operative acute kidney injury (19.6% versus 11.7%, P = .018), with no significant difference in 90‐day mortality. Female sex, Body mass index≥30 kg/m2, ischaemic heart disease, aqueous betadine skin preparation, bypass/patch use (vein, xenograft, or prosthetic), and increased operative time were independent predictors of SSI. Groin infections, which are clinically apparent to the treating vascular unit, are frequent and their development carries significant clinical sequelae. Risk factors include modifiable and non‐modifiable variables

Herman H. Kellner [tree list] /

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MOESM2 of Differences in hindlimb morphology of ducks and chickens: effects of domestication and selection

Additional file 2. Tables of least squares means for each trait measured on all lines at each age