Gill's model of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, revisited: the role of latitudinal variations in wind stress

Adrian Gill’s (1968) model of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC) is reinterpreted for a stratified, reduced-gravity ocean, where the barotropic streamfunction is replaced by the pycnocline depth, and the bottom drag coefficient by the Gent and McWilliams eddy diffusivity. The resultant model gives a simple description of the lateral structure of the ACC that is consistent with contemporary descriptions of ACC dynamics. The model is used to investigate and interpret the sensitivity of the ACC to the latitudinal profile of the surface wind stress. A substantial ACC remains when the wind jet is shifted north of the model Drake Passage, even by several thousand kilometers. The integral of the wind stress over the circumpolar streamlines is found to be a useful predictor of the magnitude of the volume transport through the model Drake Passage, although it is necessary to correct for basin-wide zonal pressure gradients in order to obtain good quantitative agreement

Mechanisms of action and outcomes for students in Recovery Colleges

Objective\ud Recovery Colleges are widespread, with little empirical research on how they work and outcomes they produce. This study aimed to co-produce a change model characterising mechanisms of action and outcomes for mental health service users attending as students at a Recovery College.\ud Methods\ud A systematised review identified all Recovery College publications. Inductive collaborative data analysis by academic researchers and co-researchers with lived experience of ten key papers informed a theoretical framework for mechanisms and outcome for students, which was refined through deductive analysis of 34 further publications. A change model was co-produced and then refined through stakeholder interviews (n=33).\ud Results\ud Three mechanisms of action for Recovery College students were identified: empowering environment (safety, respect, supporting choices), enabling different relationships (power, peers, working together) and facilitating personal growth (e.g. co-produced learning, strengths, celebrating success). Outcomes were change in the student (e.g. self-understanding, self-confidence) and changes in the student’s life (e.g. occupational, social, service use). A co-produced change model mapping mechanisms of action to outcomes was created.\ud Conclusions\ud The key features identified as differentiating Recovery Colleges from traditional services are an empowering environment, enabling relationships and growth orientation. Recovery Colleges may benefit most attenders, but mental health service users to particularly encourage to enrol may include those who lack confidence, those who services struggle to engage with, those who will benefit from exposure to peer role models, and those lacking social capital. The change model provides the first testable characterisation of mechanisms and outcomes, allowing formal evaluation of Recovery Colleges

Biological efficacy of low versus medium dose aspirin after coronary surgery: results from a randomized trial [NCT00262275]

BACKGROUND: The beneficial effect of aspirin after coronary surgery is established; however, a recent study reported the inability of low doses (100 mg) to inhibit postoperative platelet function. We conducted a double-blind randomised trial to establish the efficacy of low dose aspirin and to compare it against medium dose aspirin. METHODS: Patients undergoing coronary surgery were invited to participate and consenting patients were randomised to 100 mg or 325 mg of aspirin daily for 5 days. Our primary outcome was the difference in platelet aggregation (day 5 – baseline) using 1 μg/ml of collagen. Secondary outcomes were differences in EC50 of collagen, ADP and epinephrine (assessed using the technique of Born). RESULTS: From September 2002 to April 2004, 72 patients were randomised; 3 patients discontinued, leaving 35 and 34 in the low and medium dose aspirin arms respectively. The mean aggregation (using 1.1 μg/ml of collagen) was reduced in both the medium and low dose aspirin arms by 37% and 36% respectively. The baseline adjusted difference (low – medium) was 6% (95% CI -3 to 14; p = 0.19). The directions of the results for the differences in EC50 (low – medium) were consistent for collagen, ADP and epinephrine at -0.07 (-0.53 to 0.40), -0.08 (-0.28 to 0.11) and -4.41 (-10.56 to 1.72) respectively, but none were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Contrary to recent findings, low dose aspirin is effective and medium dose aspirin did not prove superior for inhibiting platelet aggregation after coronary surgery

In the dedicated pursuit of dedicated capital: restoring an indigenous investment ethic to British capitalism

Tony Blair’s landslide electoral victory on May 1 (New Labour Day?) presents the party in power with a rare, perhaps even unprecedented, opportunity to revitalise and modernise Britain’s ailing and antiquated manufacturing economy.* If it is to do so, it must remain true to its long-standing (indeed, historic) commitment to restore an indigenous investment ethic to British capitalism. In this paper we argue that this in turn requires that the party reject the very neo-liberal orthodoxies which it offered to the electorate as evidence of its competence, moderation and ‘modernisation’, which is has internalised, and which it apparently now views as circumscribing the parameters of the politically and economically possible

Mechanisms of action and outcomes for students in Recovery Colleges

Objective Recovery Colleges are widespread, with little empirical research on how they work and outcomes they produce. This study aimed to co-produce a change model characterising mechanisms of action and outcomes for mental health service users attending as students at a Recovery College. Methods A systematised review identified all Recovery College publications. Inductive collaborative data analysis by academic researchers and co-researchers with lived experience of ten key papers informed a theoretical framework for mechanisms and outcome for students, which was refined through deductive analysis of 34 further publications. A change model was co-produced and then refined through stakeholder interviews (n=33). Results Three mechanisms of action for Recovery College students were identified: empowering environment (safety, respect, supporting choices), enabling different relationships (power, peers, working together) and facilitating personal growth (e.g. co-produced learning, strengths, celebrating success). Outcomes were change in the student (e.g. self-understanding, self-confidence) and changes in the student’s life (e.g. occupational, social, service use). A co-produced change model mapping mechanisms of action to outcomes was created. Conclusions The key features identified as differentiating Recovery Colleges from traditional services are an empowering environment, enabling relationships and growth orientation. Recovery Colleges may benefit most attenders, but mental health service users to particularly encourage to enrol may include those who lack confidence, those who services struggle to engage with, those who will benefit from exposure to peer role models, and those lacking social capital. The change model provides the first testable characterisation of mechanisms and outcomes, allowing formal evaluation of Recovery Colleges

Mechanisms of action and outcomes for students in Recovery Colleges

Objective Recovery Colleges are widespread, with little empirical research on how they work and outcomes they produce. This study aimed to co-produce a change model characterising mechanisms of action and outcomes for mental health service users attending as students at a Recovery College. Methods A systematised review identified all Recovery College publications. Inductive collaborative data analysis by academic researchers and co-researchers with lived experience of ten key papers informed a theoretical framework for mechanisms and outcome for students, which was refined through deductive analysis of 34 further publications. A change model was co-produced and then refined through stakeholder interviews (n=33). Results Three mechanisms of action for Recovery College students were identified: empowering environment (safety, respect, supporting choices), enabling different relationships (power, peers, working together) and facilitating personal growth (e.g. co-produced learning, strengths, celebrating success). Outcomes were change in the student (e.g. self-understanding, self-confidence) and changes in the student’s life (e.g. occupational, social, service use). A co-produced change model mapping mechanisms of action to outcomes was created. Conclusions The key features identified as differentiating Recovery Colleges from traditional services are an empowering environment, enabling relationships and growth orientation. Recovery Colleges may benefit most attenders, but mental health service users to particularly encourage to enrol may include those who lack confidence, those who services struggle to engage with, those who will benefit from exposure to peer role models, and those lacking social capital. The change model provides the first testable characterisation of mechanisms and outcomes, allowing formal evaluation of Recovery Colleges

Abstracts from the NIHR INVOLVE Conference 2017

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