The 14 Brexit negotiations

The process of Brexit goes far beyond invoking Article 50. In this Strategic Update, Andrew Hammond and Tim Oliver identify some 14 Brexit negotiations underway - both formal diplomatic discussions and wider debates between and within the UK and EU. How will these range of negotiations bring the EU centre stage, and do they point towards a ‘hard exit’ for the UK

Moessbauer spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy of the Murchison meteorite

Meteorites provide a wealth of information about the solar system's formation, since they have similar building blocks as the Earth's crust but have been virtually unaltered since their formation. Some stony meteorites contain minerals and silicate inclusions, called chondrules, in the matrix. Utilizing Moessbauer spectroscopy, we identified minerals in the Murchison meteorite, a carbonaceous chondritic meteorite, by the gamma ray resonance lines observed. Absorption patterns of the spectra were found due to the minerals olivine and phyllosilicate. We used a scanning electron microscope to describe the structure of the chondrules in the Murchison meteorite. The chondrules were found to be deformed due to weathering of the meteorite. Diameters varied in size from 0.2 to 0.5 mm. Further enhancement of the microscopic imagery using a digital image processor was used to describe the physical characteristics of the inclusions

A systematic review examining reducing unplanned hospital admissions in adults with cancer

Review question:1.What interventions have been tested and have successfully reduced unplanned hospital admissions in adults with cancer?2.What are the factors associated with unplanned hospital admissions in adults with cancer

You Can't Get There from Here

You Can’t Get There from Here was commissioned by the Sound Festival 2015 with funding from Creative Scotland. The idea, emerging initially from New Music Scotland’s 2014 ‘Time Out’ composer residency, was to experiment with a method of collaborating on music that was fully integrated but at the same time allowed for some emergence of individual voice. This resulted in a process whereby the six composers in the group each started a fragment of music, and each passed that fragment on to another member of the group, according to a predetermined schedule. Each composer then altered, added to, or took away from, the material that they were given, and then passed it to the next. This process continued until the transformed fragment arrived back at the composer it started with. The performance of the final six-part collaboration occurred on October 22, 2015 at the Sound Festival in Aberdeen, Scotland. BBC Radio Scotland broadcast a feature on "Classics Unwrapped" with Jamie MacDougall in early November 2015

Poverty, Income Inequalities and Migration in the Global South

In this chapter, we critically engage with the existing literature to explore how the condition of countries of origin, the situation in countries of destination and the role of remittances relate to the key analytical instruments of poverty and income inequalities. We analyse the ways in which income inequalities contribute to patterns of migration; the mechanisms by which resources are transferred back to places of origin and their impacts on poverty and income inequalities; and the impact of migration on patterns of inequalities in places where people move. We discuss whether migration can play a role in reducing income inequality, by helping increase incomes and contribute to poverty alleviation, or whether it is a very selective phenomenon that tends to exacerbate inequalities. Global South and South–South migration are included in the analysis, albeit through a critical approach, that highlights the need to consider the historical dimensions involved in their creation, the political construction of these categories and the limitations embedded in their theoretical application

Molecular ecology and risk factors for third-generation cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli carriage by dogs living in urban and nearby rural settings

OBJECTIVES: To compare faecal third-generation cephalosporin-resistant (3GC-R) Escherichia coli isolates from dogs living in a city and in a rural area ∼30 km away; to compare isolates from dogs, cattle and humans in these regions; and to determine risk factors associated with 3GC-R E. coli carriage in these two cohorts of dogs. METHODS: Six hundred dogs were included, with faecal samples processed to recover 3GC-R E. coli using 2 mg/L cefotaxime. WGS was by Illumina and risk factor analyses were by multivariable linear regression using the results of an owner-completed survey. RESULTS: 3GC-R E. coli were excreted by 20/303 rural and 31/297 urban dogs. The dominant canine 3GC-R ST was ST963 (bla(CMY-2)), which also accounted for 25% of CMY-2-producing E. coli in humans. Phylogenetic overlap between cattle and rural dog CTX-M-14-producing E. coli ST117 was observed as well as acquisition of pMOO-32-positive E. coli ST10 by a rural dog, a plasmid common on cattle farms in the area. Feeding raw meat was associated with carrying 3GC-R E. coli in rural dogs, but not in urban dogs, where swimming in rivers was a weak risk factor. CONCLUSIONS: Given clear zoonotic potential for resistant canine E. coli, our work suggests interventions that may reduce this threat. In rural dogs, carriage of 3GC-R E. coli, particularly CTX-M producers, was phylogenetically associated with interaction with local cattle and epidemiologically associated with feeding raw meat. In urban dogs, sources of 3GC-R E. coli appear to be more varied and include environments such as rivers

A tri-dimensional approach for auditing brand loyalty

Over the past twenty years brand loyalty has been an important topic for both marketing practitioners and academics. While practitioners have produced proprietary brand loyalty audit models, there has been little academic research to make transparent the methodology that underpins these audits and to enable practitioners to understand, develop and conduct their own audits. In this paper, we propose a framework for a brand loyalty audit that uses a tri-dimensional approach to brand loyalty, which includes behavioural loyalty and the two components of attitudinal loyalty: emotional and cognitive loyalty. In allowing for different levels and intensity of brand loyalty, this tri-dimensional approach is important from a managerial perspective. It means that loyalty strategies that arise from a brand audit can be made more effective by targeting the market segments that demonstrate the most appropriate combination of brand loyalty components. We propose a matrix with three dimensions (emotional, cognitive and behavioural loyalty) and two levels (high and low loyalty) to facilitate a brand loyalty audit. To demonstrate this matrix, we use the example of financial services, in particular a rewards-based credit card