Milton Keynes Family-Nurse Partnership: Wave 2A '<i>Collaborative Working with Children's Centres'; a service evaluation</i>

This document reports a qualitative study of experiences with and attitudes towards the Family Nurse Partnership pilot programme in Milton Keynes, focusing on the ways in which the programme has been operating in conjunction with other services for parents with young children, especially young mothers, and the role of the programme in developing client autonomy. The study was carried out in 2010. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with the members of the Family Nurse team, with clients, with local Sure Start Children’s Centre Coordinators and with practitioners in other services associated with the work of the Centres and the FNP team. In all, 37 people were interviewed, including the 7 FNP team members, 15 clients, 5 Children’s Centre coordinators and 10 practitioners in associated services.Opinions about the conduct and efficacy of the FNP pilot scheme were consistently very favourable, with the members of the team, and the scheme materials and practices being held in high regard, both by clients and other services involved. The strengths-based approach was especially valued. Some further development possibilities were identified, concerning the relatively low level of communication that was being achieved between the FNP and other services, and about the perceived inaccessibility to other practitioners of the specific programme-based activities used with FNP clients. These were widely seen as being of potentially great benefit to practitioners outside the scheme.The necessity of understanding the complexity and depth of the needs of young parents also emerged as a core theme, linked with the need to tailor ways of working and offering services so as to avoid stigmatization and hence putting up barriers to client participation. Some concerns were expressed that the fact of being a teenage mother does not in itself always carry a high need association, especially where adequate family and community support is in place, and that needs may also be great in less-young parents where such support is lacking or other risk factors are present.Clients were especially appreciative of the value to them of the close, sustained and supportive relationships that had been established with their Family Nurses. Availability, both practically and emotionally, also emerged as a key factor in client satisfaction and in the maintenance of clients in the programme.Recommendations are made for development opportunities based on the findings of this study

Applying the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm in Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy Practica

Four faculty members from Regis University’s Counseling Division share their application of the Ignatian Pedagogical Paradigm (IPP) in Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy Practica. Using the IPP, they guide the learners in an intentional way to integrate values and action in service to others. Faculty use the IPP to support learners and invite them to thoughtfully engage with the elements of the paradigm. A discussion and review of how the faculty incorporates the five IPP elements in the practica setting is provided

The influence of monovalent cations on tryptophanase and pyruvate kinase as studied by fluorescence, circular dichroism, and kinetic methods

Two spectrally different species of holotryptophanase were obtained from fluorescence and circular dichroism measurements. One is predominant in solutions containing certain enzyme activating monovalent cations while the other predominates in solutions of various inhibiting monovalent cations. Relative magnitudes of the cation sensitive fluorescent intensity maxima or circular dichroism maxima are approximately proportional to the effectiveness of the monovalent cations as activators or inhibitors of tryptophanase activity. The tryptophanase coenzyme, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate, is required in order to observe any monovalent cation effects on the enzyme's fluorescence or circular dichroism spectra. Fluorometric titrations indicated that the coenzyme binds to apotryptophanase more tightly in the presence of K ⁺ or NH⁺ ₄ than in Na ⁺ solutions. Similarly, low temperature circular dichroism measurements of the holoenzyme indicated that the coenzyme dissociated more readily in Na⁺ than in K⁺ systems. Activating and inhibiting monovalent cations had essentially similar effects on the binding of the substrate analog, 1,N ⁶-ethenoadenosine diphosphate (εADP), to pyruvate kinase. Likewise, no differential cation affects were observed for the binding of indole to apotryptophanase. Cation effects on the fluorescence anisotropy of tryptophan residues was found to be negligable for all enzymes tested except pyruvate kinase. Addition of activating as well as inhibiting cations to solutions of pyruvate kinase resulted in nearly identical increases in tryptophan anisotropy. It was demonstrated that the anisotropy increase was not caused by a decrease in energy transfer between tryptophan residues. Monovalent cation binding site models are discussed. Evidence in support of allosteric models is lacking. The current results as well as recent work reported in the literature support a functional role for the activating monovalent cation at the pyruvate kinase or tryptophanase active site

Bostonia. Volume 12

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Use of Clumped-Isotope Thermometry To Constrain the Crystallization Temperature of Diagenetic Calcite

We describe an approach to estimating the crystallization temperatures of diagenetic calcites using clumped-isotope thermometry, a paleothermometer based on the ^(13)C–^(18)O-bond enrichment in carbonates. Application of this thermometer to calcified gastropod shells and calcite cements in an early Eocene limestone from the Colorado Plateau reveals a record of calcite precipitation and replacement at temperatures varying from 14 to 123°C. The early Eocene host sediments were never deeply buried, but they experienced a significant thermal pulse associated with the emplacement of a late Miocene basalt flow. The combination of independent constraints on thermal history with clumped-isotope thermometry, petrographic (including cathodoluminescence) observations, and oxygen isotopic data provides an improved basis for estimation of the temperature and timing of diagenetic events and fluid sources. The petrography and calcite δ^(18)O values, taken alone, suggest that the aragonite-to-calcite transformation of gastropod shell material occurred simultaneously with early formation of cements and lithification of the matrix in the same sample. However, addition of clumped-isotope thermometry demonstrates that this phase transformation of shell material occurred at temperatures of 94–123°C in a highly rock-buffered microenvironment (i.e., with the isotopic composition of fluid buffered by coexisting carbonate), millions of years after lithification of the matrix and formation of initial low-temperature (14–19°C) calcite cements within shell body cavities. Clumped-isotope temperatures in excess of reasonable Earth-surface conditions recorded by later-formed cements demand that cement growth occurred in association with the lava emplacement. Our results illustrate the potential for clumped-isotope thermometry to constrain conditions of diagenesis and guide interpretations that would not be possible on the basis of conventional stable-isotopic and petrographic data alone, and demonstrate how petrographic characterization of clumped-isotope thermometry samples can benefit paleoclimate studies

A fractal-based fibre for ultra-high throughput optical probes

A core component of all scanning near-field optical microscopy (SNOM) systems is the optical probe, which has evolved greatly but still represents the limiting component for the system. Here, we introduce a new type of optical probe, based on a Fractal Fibre which is a special class of photonic crystal fibre (PCF), to directly address the issue of increasing the optical throughput in SNOM probes. Optical measurements through the Fractal Fibre probes have shown superior power levels to that of conventional SNOM probes. The results presented in this paper suggest that a novel fibre design is critical in order to maximize the potential of the SNOM

Repeat screening for syphilis in pregnancy as an alternative screening strategy in the UK:a cost-effectiveness analysis

OBJECTIVES: To assess the cost-effectiveness of universal repeat screening for syphilis in late pregnancy, compared with the current strategy of single screening in early pregnancy with repeat screening offered only to high-risk women. DESIGN: A decision tree model was developed to assess the incremental costs and health benefits of the two screening strategies. The base case analysis considered short-term costs during the pregnancy and the initial weeks after delivery. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses and scenario analyses were conducted to assess the robustness of the results. SETTING: UK antenatal screening programme. POPULATION: Hypothetical cohort of pregnant women who access antenatal care and receive a syphilis screen in 1 year. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was the cost to avoid one case of congenital syphilis (CS). Secondary outcomes were the cost to avoid one case of intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD) or neonatal death and the number of women needing to be screened/treated to avoid one case of CS, IUFD or neonatal death. The cost per quality-adjusted life year gained was assessed in scenario analyses. RESULTS: Base case results indicated that for pregnant women in the UK (n=725 891), the repeat screening strategy would result in 5.5 fewer cases of CS (from 8.8 to 3.3), 0.1 fewer cases of neonatal death and 0.3 fewer cases of IUFD annually compared with the single screening strategy. This equates to an additional £1.8 million per case of CS prevented. When lifetime horizon was considered, the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for the repeat screening strategy was £120 494. CONCLUSIONS: Universal repeat screening for syphilis in pregnancy is unlikely to be cost-effective in the current UK setting where syphilis prevalence is low. Repeat screening may be cost-effective in countries with a higher syphilis incidence in pregnancy, particularly if the cost per screen is low