Bristol girls dance project feasibility study: Using a pilot economic evaluation to inform design of a full trial

Background: There is currently little guidance for pilot trial economic evaluation where health outcomes and costs are influenced by a range of wider determinants and factors. Objectives: This article presents the findings of a pilot economic evaluation study running alongside the Bristol Girls Dance Project (BGDP) feasibility study. Design: 3-arm, cluster randomised, controlled pilot trial and economic evaluation. 7 schools (n=210) from the Bristol and greater Bristol area, UK were randomly allocated to the intervention arm 3 schools (n=90) and the control arm 4 schools (n=120). Intervention: Girls aged 11-12 years with parental consent were provided with two, 90 min dance sessions per week for 9 weeks at school facilities. Economic outcome measures: Programme costs and girls' preferences for attributes of dance and preferences for competing leisure time activities were measured. Results: The mainstream average cost of the BGDP programme (not including research, control and dance teacher training costs) per school was $2126.40, £1329 and €1555 and per participant was$70.90, £44.31 and €51.84 in 2010-2011 prices. Discrete choice experiment (DCE) methods are acceptable to girls of this age indicating time available for other leisure activities on dance class days is the attribute girls valued most and 2 h leisure time remaining preferred to 3 h. Conclusions: This pilot study indicates that providing full cost data for a future trial of the BGDP programme is feasible and practical. There is no evidence from preference data to support adjustment to intervention design. A future economic evaluation is likely to be successful utilising the resource use checklist developed. The importance of categorising separately resources used to develop, prepare, deliver and maintain the programme to estimate mainstream costs accurately is demonstrated

Circles, columns and screenings: mapping the institutional, discursive, physical and gendered spaces of film criticism in 1940s London

This article revisits the period considered within ‘The Quality Film Adventure: British Critics and the Cinema 1942-1948’, mapping the professional cultures, working contexts and industry relationships that underpinned the aesthetic judgements and collective directions which John Ellis has observed within the critics published writings. Drawing on the records of the Critics’ Circle, Dilys Powell’s papers and Kinematograph Weekly, it explores the evolution of increasingly organised professional cultures of film criticism and film publicity, arguing that the material conditions imposed by war caused tensions between them to escalate. In the context of two major challenges to critical integrity and practice – the evidence given by British producer R.J. Minney in front of the 1948 Royal Commission on the Press and an ongoing libel case between a BBC critic and MGM – the different spaces of hospitality and film promotion became highly contested sites. This article focuses on the ways in which these spaces were characterised, used, and policed. It finds that the value and purpose of press screenings were hotly disputed and observes the way the advancement of women within one sector (film criticism) but not the other (film publicity) created particular difficulties, as key female critics avoided the more compromised masculine spaces of publicity, making them harder for publicists to reach and fuelling trade resentment. More broadly, the article asserts the need to consider film critics as geographically and culturally located audiences, who experience films as ‘professional’ viewers within extended and embodied cultures of habitual professional practice and physical space

Functional Dissociation in Frontal and Striatal Areas for Processing of Positive and Negative Reward Information

Reward-seeking behavior depends critically on processing of positive and negative information at various stages such as reward anticipation, outcome monitoring, and choice evaluation. Behavioral and neuropsychological evidence suggests that processing of positive (e.g., gain) and negative (e.g., loss) reward information may be dissociable and individually disrupted. However, it remains uncertain whether different stages of reward processing share certain neural circuitry in frontal and striatal areas, and whether distinct but interactive systems in these areas are recruited for positive and negative reward processing. To explore these issues, we used a monetary decision-making task to investigate the roles of frontal and striatal areas at all three stages of reward processing in the same event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment. Participants were instructed to choose whether to bet or bank a certain number of chips. If they decided to bank or if they lost a bet, they started over betting one chip. If they won a bet, the wager was doubled in the next round. Positive reward anticipation, winning outcome, and evaluation of right choices activated the striatum and medial/middle orbitofrontal cortex, whereas negative reward anticipation, losing outcome, and evaluation of wrong choices activated the lateral orbitofrontal cortex, anterior insula, superior temporal pole, and dorsomedial frontal cortex. These findings suggest that the valence of reward information and counterfactual comparison more strongly predict a functional dissociation in frontal and striatal areas than do various stages of reward processing. These distinct but interactive systems may serve to guide human\u27s reward-seeking behavior

Effectiveness of common household cleaning agents in reducing the viability of human influenza A/H1N1

In the event of an influenza pandemic, the majority of people infected will be nursed at home. It is therefore important to determine simple methods for limiting the spread of the virus within the home. The purpose of this work was to test a representative range of common household cleaning agents for their effectiveness at killing or reducing the viability of influenza A virus

Evidence-based intervention for preschool children with primary speech and language impairments: Child Talk - an exploratory mixed-methods study

BackgroundThe Child Talk study aimed to develop an evidence-based framework to support the decision-making of speech and language therapists (SLTs) as they design and plan interventions appropriate to the needs of individual children with primary speech and language impairments and their families. The need for early identification and effective intervention for these children continues to be a government policy priority because of the link between children’s early speech and language skills and their broader well-being and outcomes in later life. The first phase of Child Talk sought to map and describe current SLT practice for these children; identify and summarise the existing research evidence relating to practice; and investigate the perspectives of parents, early years practitioners, preschool children and ‘underserved’ communities on speech and language therapy. The second phase of Child Talk focused on the development of a toolkit – assessment tools, outcome measures and a data set – to support future service and economic evaluations of the framework.MethodsChild Talk adopted a mixed-methods design. Quantitative methods included surveys and investigated the prevalence and patterns of intervention usage; qualitative data collection methods included focus groups, interviews and reflection to investigate participants’ perspectives and understandings of interventions. Data analysis methods included descriptive and inferential statistics, thematic and content analysis and framework analysis. Participants were recruited nationally through six NHS sites, professional bodies, parent groups and advertising. Participants included SLTs (n = 677), parents (n = 84), preschool children (n = 24), early years practitioners (n = 31) and ‘underserved’ communities (n = 52).Key findingsSpeech and language therapy interventions were characterised in terms of nine themes, viewed as comprehensive and inclusive by practitioners. Relevant assessments, interventions and outcome domains were identified for the nine themes. Areas of tacit knowledge and underspecified processes contributed to variability in the detail of the framework. Systematic reviews identified 58 relevant and robust studies (from 55,271 papers retrieved from the initial literature search). The number of studies relevant to each theme varied from 1 to 33. Observational data on preschool children’s perspectives on speech and language therapy interventions revealed the dynamic nature of their interaction with different activities and people within therapy sessions. Parents’ experiences of speech and language therapy were generally positive although some reported that the rationale for therapy was not always clear. Parental perspectives in underserved communities suggested that, although parents were confident about how to support children’s language development, they were less informed about the nature of language impairments and the function of speech and language therapy. The availability of information regarding resources directed towards speech and language therapy services was poor. In particular, services lacked both a culture of collecting outcome data routinely and measures of professional input and costs associated with their activities.ConclusionA descriptive framework of SLT practice has been developed to support the discussions between therapists and families when making decisions regarding the selection of interventions and outcome measures. Further research is needed to address gaps in the intervention framework and evaluate its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness in improving outcomes for preschool children with primary speech and language impairments.Study registrationThis study is registered as PROSPERO CRD42013006369

In vitro rooting of regenerants of blue poplar

The article presents the research results of the influence of hormonal composition of the culture medium and cultivation duration on regenerants of Populus pruinosa at the stage of rooting in vitro. 98,3±1,7 % of regenerants rooted on MS culture medium with 1,0 mg L−1 IMА during 8 weeks of cultivation.Приведены результаты исследований влияния гормонального состава питательной среды и длительности культивирования на растения-регенеранты тополя сизолистного на этапе укоренения in vitro; 98,3±1,7 % регенерантов укоренялись на питательной среде МС, дополненной 1,0 мг/л ИМК, в течение 8 недель культивирования

Combining diabetic foot and retinopathy screening: A step in the right direction? – a feasibility study

Objectives: Peripheral artery disease is a major cardiovascular disease affecting more than 200 million people globally and up to 4 times more frequent in the diabetic population. It can lead to lower extremity amputations or revascularisation and is associated with an increased risk of myocardial infarction, stroke and early mortality. This novel cross-sectional study aimed to explore the feasibility and acceptability of incorporating diabetic foot screening at routine diabetic retinopathy screening appointments. Methods: Participants underwent foot screening during the interval between pupil dilatation and retinal photography as part of the eye screening procedure. Lower limb arterial assessment included ankle brachial index, pulse volume waveform and protective light touch sensation. Results: Of 364 participants invited, 88% (n = 321) met the inclusion criteria. About 26.4% (n = 86) had asymptomatic peripheral artery disease and 3% (n = 10) had peripheral sensory neuropathy. Binary logistical regression analysis identified age (p < 0.005), existing coronary heart disease (p < 0.005) and gender (p = 0.03) as predictors of peripheral artery disease. Conclusion: Incorporating foot examination during eye screening appointments is feasible and was well received by participants and staff alike. Undiagnosed early peripheral artery disease was evident in a third of the study population emphasising the benefit of introducing foot surveillance into eye screening appointments for the early identification of lower limb arterial disease and peripheral sensory neuropath

Action 3:30R: Results of a cluster randomised feasibility study of a revised teaching assistant-led extracurricular physical activity intervention for 8 to 10 year olds

Many children are not sufficiently physically active. We conducted a cluster-randomised feasibility trial of a revised after-school physical activity (PA) programme delivered by trained teaching assistants (TAs) to assess the potential evidence of promise for increasing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Participants (n = 335) aged 8–10 years were recruited from 12 primary schools in South West England. Six schools were randomised to receive the intervention and six acted as non-intervention controls. In intervention schools, TAs were trained to deliver an after-school programme for 15 weeks. The difference in mean accelerometer-assessed MVPA between intervention and control schools was assessed at follow-up (T1). The cost of programme delivery was estimated. Two schools did not deliver the intervention, meaning four intervention and six control schools were analysed at T1. There was no evidence for a difference in MVPA at T1 between intervention and control groups. Programme delivery cost was estimated at £2.06 per pupil per session. Existing provision in the 12 schools cost £5.91 per pupil per session. Action 3:30 was feasible to deliver and considerably cheaper than existing after-school provision. No difference in weekday MVPA was observed at T1 between the two groups, thus progression to a full trial is not warranted

Nurses Alumni Association Bulletin, Fall 1994

1994-1995 Meeting Dates Calendar 1995 Annual Luncheon - Meeting Notice Officers and Committee Chairs Bulletin Publication Committee 1994-1995 Meeting Dates Calendar The President\u27s Message Treasurer\u27s Report News About Our Graduates Fiftieth Anniversary Resume of Minutes of Alumni Association Meetings Department of Nursing 1993-1994 Alumni Office News Jefferson 2000 Fund The Women\u27s Center for Health Promotion Discount Parking for Alumni Cadet Nurse Corps Medical Anecdotes of Faith Ukranian-American Teacher Exchange Happy Birthday Committee Reports In Memoriam, Names of Deceased Graduates Luncheon Photos Class News Jefferson Alumni Identification Card Relief Fund Application Scholarship Application Membership Application Pins, Transcripts, Class Address Lists, Change of address Forms Campus Ma