Notes towards an evaluation of The Office of Children’s Rights Commissioner for London: Phase 1. 2000-2001

This report records phase I of an evaluation of the Office of Children's Rights Commissioner for London (the Office) over the first 18 months of its 3 year life. This can be only a partial evaluation, not a definitive or conclusive one. We observed processes, progress and interim outcomes, and collected young people’s and adults’ views about the Office. Some of the findings could be used as baseline data in a second phase evaluation, for later comparison. The Office is due to close in April 2003. Section 1 explains how the Office was set up, and its staffing and objectives. We report the SSRU evaluation plans and activities, besides the social context of the Office’s work, and background debates about children’s right and abilities to participate as citizens. Section 2 reviews in more detail the Office’s activities in connection with its eight original aims recorded in 1998 in its funding applications. Section 3 records the views of children and adults about children’s rights in London and the work of the Office. The groups range from people working in the Office, to young people in schools and other settings, to policy makers. Section 4 summarises how our findings so far answer the evaluation questions set out in 2000 in our original protocol. Appendix 1 outlines the case for a national Children’s Rights Commissioner. Appendix 2 gives further details about the evaluation, and Appendix 3 reviews the problems of doing evaluations in general, and of doing evaluations for and with children in particular

‘The Addiction Was Making Things Harder for My Mental Health’: A Qualitative Exploration of the Views of Adults and Adolescents Accessing a Substance Misuse Treatment Service

The relationship between substance use and mental health is complex, and both constitute a global public health burden. In the UK, the estimated annual financial costs of alcohol-related harm and illicit drug use are GBP 21.5 billion and GBP 10.7 billion, respectively. This issue is magnified in the North East of England, where treatment access is low and a large proportion of individuals experience socioeconomic deprivation. The present study aimed to explore the experiences of adults and adolescents accessing a substance misuse treatment service in the North East, in order to inform policy makers, commissioners, and providers of substance misuse treatment and prevention. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with an opportunistic sample of n = 15 adult participants (aged 18 years and over) and n = 10 adolescent participants (aged between 13 and 17 years). Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, anonymised, and analysed thematically. Five key themes were identified: (1) initiation of substance use, (2) early life experiences, (3) the bi-directional relationship of mental health and substance use, (4) cessation of substance use, and (5) accessing treatment. Future preventative interventions should focus on providing support to individuals who have been exposed to adverse childhood experiences, with treatment provision for individuals experiencing co-occurring mental health and substance use issues taking a more holistic approach

'The drugs did for me what I couldn’t do for myself’: A qualitative exploration of the relationship between mental health and amphetamine-type stimulant (ATS) use

Substance use and mental ill health constitute a major public health burden, and a key global policy priority is to reduce illicit and other harmful substance use. Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) are the second most used class of illicit drugs and a range of mental health issues have been documented amongst users. This paper explores the relationship between mental health and ATS use, through a thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with n=18 current and former ATS users in England. The findings are presented by trajectory point of; (1) Initiation of ATS use; (2) continued and increased ATS use; and (3) decreased and remitted ATS use. This work helps to develop understanding around the complex and bidirectional relationship between ATS use and mental health. Many ATS users lead chaotic lives and engage in multiple risk behaviours; however, there is a need to better understand and conceptualise the dynamic interaction between different individual, social, environment and cultural factors that determine individuals’ mental health and substance use. There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to prevention and treatment, and these findings highlight the need for more joined-up, tailored, and holistic approaches to intervention development

Effects of Growth Pattern on Muscle Growth, Nuclei Number, Protein Accretion, and Body Composition in Heifers

The effects of compensatory growth on accretion of muscle mass, protein mass, and nuclei number of the supraspinatus and semitendinosus muscles were evaluated using seven serial slaughter groups of Angus x Limousin heifer calves (n = 28, BW 270 2 9.5 kg). Fractional growth rates of carcass protein and fat were also evaluated. To achieve compensatory growth, energy intake was restricted for 88 days (Phase 1) followed by adlibitum feeding of a high energy diet (Phase2) [LH]. Controls were allowed continuous ad libitum access to the high energy diet (HH). Muscle weights, body composition samples, and muscle biopsies were collected at various weight (465 vs 500 kg) or age (88 vs 186 days) constants. Phase 1 energy restriction limited body weight, carcass weight, carcass protein mass, and carcass fat mass (P\u3c.05). This was the result of the limited tissue fractional growth rates. The fractional growth rate of protein for heifers exhibiting compensatory growth was not increased but was maintained until maximum carcass protein mass was attained. Maximum carcass protein mass was attained by a weight of 465 kg. Any further increase in carcass weight was primarily attributed to an increase of carcass fat mass regardless of previous management. Energy restriction limited muscle, protein, and nuclei accretion rates. Heifers exhibiting compensatory growth sustained a linear growth potential until maximum muscle mass occurred at an end point similar to cattle not exhibiting compensatory growth. Muscle nuclei maintained a constant relationship to muscle mass independent of nutritional treatment, muscle type (supraspinatus vs semitendinosus), or days on feed. These data indicate compensatory growth alters the growth curve without affecting the mechanisms of growth

The rights of the child: are we creating a world in which all children are enabled to reach their full potential?

This chapter, through the lens of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, reviews whether we are actually creating world in which children’s development needs are recognized and met. The principle focus of the chapter is each child’s right to an education. In particular Articles 28 and 29 of the UNCRC are highlighted to provide a benchmark against which to consider education provision in multiple international contexts. Reference is made to the UN Millennium Declaration, the eight Millennium Development Goals and the UNICEF report “The State of the World’s Children 2016: A fair chance for every child” to enable examination of how a world fit for children is being achieved or not. From examination of the aforementioned reports, three imperatives emerge: economic, education and moral. These imperatives challenge the reader to consider how legislation and policy works towards or hinders the goal of creating a world in which all children are enabled to reach their full potential

Quasi-static characterisation and impact testing of auxetic foam for sports safety applications

This study compared low strain rate material properties and impact force attenuation of auxetic foam and the conventional open-cell polyurethane counterpart. This furthers our knowledge with regards to how best to apply these highly conformable and breathable auxetic foams to protective sports equipment. Cubes of auxetic foam measuring 150 x 150 x 150 mm were fabricated using a thermo-mechanical conversion process. Quasi-static compression confirmed the converted foam to be auxetic, prior to being sliced into 20 mm thick cuboid samples for further testing. Density, Poisson’s ratio and the stress-strain curve were all found to be dependent on the position of each cuboid from within the cube. Impact tests with a hemispherical drop hammer were performed for energies up to 6 J, on foams covered with a polypropylene sheet between 1 and 2 mm thick. Auxetic samples reduced peak force by ~10 times in comparison to the conventional foam. This work has shown further potential for auxetic foam to be applied to protective equipment, while identifying that improved fabrication methods are required

Cubic Curves, Finite Geometry and Cryptography

Some geometry on non-singular cubic curves, mainly over finite fields, is surveyed. Such a curve has 9,3,1 or 0 points of inflexion, and cubic curves are classified accordingly. The group structure and the possible numbers of rational points are also surveyed. A possible strengthening of the security of elliptic curve cryptography is proposed using a `shared secret' related to the group law. Cubic curves are also used in a new way to construct sets of points having various combinatorial and geometric properties that are of particular interest in finite Desarguesian planes.Comment: This is a version of our article to appear in Acta Applicandae Mathematicae. In this version, we have corrected a sentence in the third paragraph. The final publication is available at springerlink.com at http://www.springerlink.com/content/xh85647871215644

Fluctuation-driven capacity distribution in complex networks

Maximizing robustness and minimizing cost are common objectives in the design of infrastructure networks. However, most infrastructure networks evolve and operate in a highly decentralized fashion, which may significantly impact the allocation of resources across the system. Here, we investigate this question by focusing on the relation between capacity and load in different types of real-world communication and transportation networks. We find strong empirical evidence that the actual capacity of the network elements tends to be similar to the maximum available capacity, if the cost is not strongly constraining. As more weight is given to the cost, however, the capacity approaches the load nonlinearly. In particular, all systems analyzed show larger unoccupied portions of the capacities on network elements subjected to smaller loads, which is in sharp contrast with the assumptions involved in (linear) models proposed in previous theoretical studies. We describe the observed behavior of the capacity-load relation as a function of the relative importance of the cost by using a model that optimizes capacities to cope with network traffic fluctuations. These results suggest that infrastructure systems have evolved under pressure to minimize local failures, but not necessarily global failures that can be caused by the spread of local damage through cascading processes