Feeling Lonely: The Experiences of Young People Aged 12 to 13 Years

Loneliness is a widely experienced, disagreeable emotion, when prolonged it is potentially detrimental to the current and future well-being of young people. It is principally considered to occur when relationships do not meet the expectations, or needs, of affected individuals. Much research about loneliness in children and adolescents has focused on measuring, as opposed to understanding, loneliness based on evaluations of school-peer relationships, although latterly parental relationships have been considered. Little account of other relationships and contextual factors has been taken. It is suggested that increasing use of a variety of digitally-mediated-communication (DMC) is likely to shape interactions and possibly affect experiences of loneliness. This project used a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain reports of usage of DMC and experiences of loneliness from 41 (21 boys and 20 girls) young people aged 12-13 years. A constructivist phenomenological framework framed the collection and analysis of both quantitative and qualitative data. Correlations identified and themes developed were conceptualised as ‘tools’ to aid understanding of the lived-experience of loneliness. One important aim of this project was to consider existing theoretical frameworks, in the light of participants’ reports, with a view to planning future research. These frameworks included consideration of the affordances and limitations of DMC, relationships and the experience of loneliness. Gender differences were noted in use of DMC and reports of loneliness. Boys tended to use more computer-mediated-communication and fewer voice calls and SMS texting than did girls. Statistical analysis demonstrated significant associations for boys between loneliness, parental relationships and having a ‘good’ friend. Girls demonstrated none of these; instead, analysis suggested they found social-networks more significant. Both sexes reported experiencing loneliness in all the four domains investigated: at home, at school, alone, and when with people, although girls showed some relationships between these domains and boys did not. Thematic analysis of the written narrative data concluded these gender differences were not as marked as statistical analysis had suggested, and interpreted major themes related to loneliness as being ‘personal rejection’ and ’physical separation’. Both were related to friendships, parental separation was mentioned but evidence of parental rejection was not found within this small sample. Relationships reported as influencing experiences of loneliness by the young people included: parents, school-friends, friends outside of school, having a good friend, siblings, aunts and cousins. Tentative associations were made between DMC use and the experience of loneliness namely, having fewer forms of DMC available and increased Internet use were associated with increased reports of loneliness supporting the need for further investigation. Revisiting the literature, having established a coherent framework encompassing loneliness, relationships and usage of DMC was required, identified a paper by Gergen (2002) considering the effects of ‘absent presence’ on relationships. It is suggested that this is more pertinent to understanding DMC and relationships than previous theories based on comparatively limited forms of DMC. The congruence in approach with constructivist phenomenology, especially in terms of the significance of culturally framed discourse was noted. Additionally Gergen’s theorising encompasses the two approaches considered most appropriate for understanding loneliness after examination of the data, the social needs approach emphasising different types of relationships and the interactionist approach emphasising the importance of situating research within the appropriate cultural background. It is suggested that discourse analysis of both ‘natural’ and interview data, perhaps utilising ethnographic procedures designed to consider context will facilitate further examination of the effects of DMC on young people’s experiences of loneliness

Clinical academic career pathway for nursing and allied health professionals: clinical academic role descriptors

The clinical academic pathway outlined highlights the range of typical practice and research-focused activities that a practitioner on a clinical academic career pathway might normally engage in at different levels and points along this career path. The activities are intended as a guide for practitioners interested in learning more about the practice and research components of a clinical academic career, as well as those already employed in clinical academic roles. They may also be useful for health care organisations and Higher Education Institutions as a tool for developing clinical academic roles

The complement system in neurodegenerative diseases

Complement is an important component of innate immune defence against pathogens and crucial for efficient immune complex disposal. These core protective activities are dependent in large part on properly regulated complement-mediated inflammation. Dysregulated complement activation, often driven by persistence of activating triggers, is a cause of pathological inflammation in numerous diseases, including neurological diseases. Increasingly, this has become apparent not only in well-recognized neuroinflammatory diseases like multiple sclerosis but also in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases where inflammation was previously either ignored or dismissed as a secondary event. There is now a large and rapidly growing body of evidence implicating complement in neurological diseases that cannot be comprehensively addressed in a brief review. Here, we will focus on neurodegenerative diseases, including not only the ‘classical’ neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, but also two other neurological diseases where neurodegeneration is a neglected feature and complement is implicated, namely, schizophrenia, a neurodevelopmental disorder with many mechanistic features of neurodegeneration, and multiple sclerosis, a demyelinating disorder where neurodegeneration is a major cause of progressive decline. We will discuss the evidence implicating complement as a driver of pathology in these diverse diseases and address briefly the potential and pitfalls of anti-complement drug therapy for neurodegenerative diseases

Herpetological observations from field expeditions to North Karnataka and Southwest Maharashtra, India

The Western Ghats of India are one of the 34 global hotspots of biodiversity. They are one of the most important large natural areas in the world and are fast becoming recognised for their biological importance. The herpetofauna of the Western Ghats is hugely diverse, with many species exhibiting rare, endemic styles of autecology and niche preference that could equal that of countries such as Borneo and Madagascar. In this report we detail 18 amphibian and 37 reptile species from eight sites following three expeditions to the Western Ghats from 2007-2009. The report details species descriptions, habitat, ecology and conservation to alert the herpetological community to the importance of future research to address the lack of knowledge in species ecology. It also presents newinformation on species distribution and behaviour

Nuclear and Chloroplast Microsatellites Show Multiple Introductions in the Worldwide Invasion History of Common Ragweed, Ambrosia artemisiifolia

BACKGROUND: Ambrosia artemisiifolia is a North American native that has become one of the most problematic invasive plants in Europe and Asia. We studied its worldwide population genetic structure, using both nuclear and chloroplast microsatellite markers and an unprecedented large population sampling. Our goals were (i) to identify the sources of the invasive populations; (ii) to assess whether all invasive populations were founded by multiple introductions, as previously found in France; (iii) to examine how the introductions have affected the amount and structure of genetic variation in Europe; (iv) to document how the colonization of Europe proceeded; (v) to check whether populations exhibit significant heterozygote deficiencies, as previously observed. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We found evidence for multiple introductions of A. artemisiifolia, within regions but also within populations in most parts of its invasive range, leading to high levels of diversity. In Europe, introductions probably stem from two different regions of the native area: populations established in Central Europe appear to have originated from eastern North America, and Eastern European populations from more western North America. This may result from differential commercial exchanges between these geographic regions. Our results indicate that the expansion in Europe mostly occurred through long-distance dispersal, explaining the absence of isolation by distance and the weak influence of geography on the genetic structure in this area in contrast to the native range. Last, we detected significant heterozygote deficiencies in most populations. This may be explained by partial selfing, biparental inbreeding and/or a Wahlund effect and further investigation is warranted. CONCLUSIONS: This insight into the sources and pathways of common ragweed expansion may help to better understand its invasion success and provides baseline data for future studies on the evolutionary processes involved during range expansion in novel environments

Atmospheric pollution and human health in a Chinese megacity (APHH-Beijing) programme. Final report

In 2016, over 150 UK and Chinese scientists joined forces to understand the causes and impacts - emission sources, atmospheric processes and health effects - of air pollution in Beijing, with the ultimate aim of informing air pollution solutions and thus improving public health. The Atmospheric Pollution and Human Health in a Chinese Megacity (APHH-Beijing) research programme succeeded in delivering its objectives and significant additional science, through a large-scale, coordinated multidisciplinary collaboration. In this report are highlighted some of the research outcomes that have potential implications for policymaking

中国超大城市空气污染和人体健康 (APHH-Beijing) 中英联合研究计划 最终报告

Chinese versio

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead