Independant Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVA's) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland: A study of impacts, effects, coping mechanisms and effective support systems for people working as ISVAs and ISVA managers

This study is the first of its kind in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and was carried out to gather information about the impact of working as Independent Sexual Violence Advisers (ISVAs) or ISVA Managers. The ISVA role is relatively new, and as such, little is known about this difficult and emotionally charged work. Although some literature looks at the impact of working in the sexual violence field, there is little from England, Wales or Northern Ireland, and even less focused on the direct, ongoing, face-to-face work ISVAs do. This report focuses on the impacts, effects, coping mechanisms and effective support systems for people working as ISVAs and ISVA Managers in supporting victim-survivors of sexual violence across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Since its introduction in 2005, the ISVA role has been invaluable in providing continuous support to victim-survivors of sexual violence and working to meet their emotional and practical needs during the criminal justice process. As conviction rates are at an all-time low, ISVAs can also provide support to people who may otherwise feel let down by the Criminal Justice System. ISVAs can also support people who do not want to report the crime to the police – helping people at, potentially, the lowest point of their life. This survey focused on providing an overview of the ISVA role (e.g. context they work in, caseloads, supervision and support available) and determining which factors predict the likelihood of experiencing negative and positive impacts as a result of the work they do

Probing the topological structure of the QCD vacuum with overlap fermions

Overlap fermions implement exact chiral symmetry on the lattice and are thus an appropriate tool for investigating the chiral and topological structure of the QCD vacuum. We study various chiral and topological aspects on Luescher-Weisz-type quenched gauge field configurations using overlap fermions as a probe. Particular emphasis is placed upon the analysis of the spectral density and the localisation properties of the eigenmodes as well as on the local structure of topological charge fluctuations.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, talk given at the Workshop on Computational Hadron Physics, Nicosia, Cyprus, September 14-17, 2005; v2: Fig.6 corrected, statistics in Fig. 4-6 increased, minor text change

Polyethylene imine-based receptor immobilization for label free bioassays

Polyethylene imine (PEI) based immobilization of antibodies is described and the concept is proved on the label free assay of C-Reactive Protein (CRP). This novel immobilization method is composed of a hyperbranched PEI layer which was deposited at a high pH (9.5) on the sensor surface. The free amino groups of PEI were derivatized with neutravidin by Biotin N-hydroxysuccinimide ester and the biotinylated anti-CRP antibody immobilized on this layer. Direct binding assay of recombinant CRP was successfully performed in the low μg/ml concentrations using a label free optical waveguide biosensor

Are Probiotics Safe and Effective in Reducing the Incidence of Diarrhea in HIV-positive Individuals?

Objective: The objective of this selective EBM review is to determine whether or not probiotics are safe and effective in reducing the incidence of diarrhea in HIV-positive individuals. Study Design: Systematic review of three English language primary studies, published in 1998, 2007, and 2008. Data Sources: Three double-blind, randomized, controlled trials published after 1996, comparing administration of probiotics with placebo, were obtained using EBSCOhost, PubMed, and Cochrane databases. Outcomes Measured: Frequency and consistency of stools. Daily or weekly questionnaires allowed subjects to report perceived severity of symptoms using scales containing descriptive words and figures with corresponding numeric values. Subjects were evaluated initially at baseline and subsequently at the completion of the studies, and the results were compared. Results: No intervention-related negative side effects or adverse events were reported in any of the studies. Anukam and colleagues found that those women treated with probiotics had rapid resolution of diarrhea compared to controls, for both the duration of treatment at day fifteen and at follow-up on day ninety. Trois, et al. reports a decrease in loose stools and an increase in normal stools in both groups but no statistically significant decrease in diarrhea in the probiotic group as compared with control. Conclusion: All three studies showed that probiotics are safe when used in children and adults with HIV/AIDS. Simple comparison of the studies performed by Trois, et al. and Anukam, et al. suggests that probiotic supplements are more efficacious in adult populations than pediatric populations in reducing frequency of loose stools. However, the use of anti-retroviral drugs, geographic location, probiotic bacterial strain, and the cause of diarrhea in these populations may have impacted the outcomes. More studies containing larger patient sample sizes and including those in various other countries should be performed to further determine the efficacy of probiotics in reducing diarrhea and appreciate other health benefits in diverse populations of HIV-positive individuals. Key words: probiotics, safety, diarrhea, gastrointestinal, children, adults, HIV, AID

A preliminary look at AVE-SESAME 1 conducted on 10-11 April 1979

Preliminary information on the general weather conditions during the AVE-SESAME 1 period is presented together with a summary of severe weather reports

The impacts of working with victims of sexual violence: a rapid evidence assessment

Aim: Supporting clients who have experienced trauma can lead to trauma symptoms in those working with them; workers in the sexual violence field are at heightened risks of these. This article collated and critically appraised papers, published from 2017 onward, in the area of people assisting victims of sexual violence. It explores the impacts and effects the work has on them, their coping and self-care mechanisms, and organizational support offered to them. Design: A question-based rapid evidence assessment with a triangulated weight of evidence approach was used. Academic and nonacademic databases were searched. Twenty-five papers were included for analysis based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Results: Most studies were of medium to high methodological quality. Negative impacts included trauma symptoms, disrupted social relationships, behavioral changes, and emotional and psychological distress. Ability to manage negative impacts was influenced by overall organizational support, availability of training, supervision and guidance, workloads and caseload characteristics, individual characteristics, and their coping and self-care mechanisms. Positive impacts included empowering feelings, improved relationships, compassion satisfaction, and posttraumatic growth. Conclusions: Impacts are significant. Support at work and in personal life increases staff’s ability to cope and find meaning in their role. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Protein adsorption on heterogeneous surfaces

The adsorption of the protein bovine serum albumin from an aqueous solution onto substrata made from pure silica, pure zirconia, and a mixture of the two has revealed that the adsorption behavior of the protein onto the mixture very significantly diverges from the corresponding mean of the behaviors with the pure substrata. A tentative explanation in terms of matching substratum heterogeneity with protein surface heterogeneity is offered

The impacts of working with victims of sexual violence: A rapid evidence assessment

Aim: Supporting clients who have experienced trauma can lead to trauma symptoms in those working with them; workers in the sexual violence field are at heightened risks of these. This article collated and critically appraised papers, published from 2017 onward, in the area of people assisting victims of sexual violence. It explores the impacts and effects the work has on them, their coping and self-care mechanisms, and organizational support offered to them. Design: A question-based rapid evidence assessment with a triangulated weight of evidence approach was used. Academic and nonacademic databases were searched. Twenty-five papers were included for analysis based on the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Results: Most studies were of medium to high methodological quality. Negative impacts included trauma symptoms, disrupted social relationships, behavioral changes, and emotional and psychological distress. Ability to manage negative impacts was influenced by overall organizational support, availability of training, supervision and guidance, workloads and caseload characteristics, individual characteristics, and their coping and self-care mechanisms. Positive impacts included empowering feelings, improved relationships, compassion satisfaction, and posttraumatic growth. Conclusions: Impacts are significant. Support at work and in personal life increases staff’s ability to cope and find meaning in their role. Implications for research and practice are discussed