A Quantitative Study Investigating the Effect of Age and Gender on Adult Sibling Rivalry.

The current study looked to observe whether gender and age had a significant effect on the occurrence of adult sibling rivalry.A modified version of the Adult Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (Stocker et al., 1997) was distributed to 116 adults aged between 18 and 69. Sibling rivalry was measured looking at six key characteristics; conflict, jealousy, admiration/pride, superiority and maternal/paternal rivalry and closeness. Data was analysed using a series of ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc tests. Sibling Rivalry was found to be highest in Males aged 46+ and a significant main effect was found between participants aged 18-28 and participants aged 46+. A further significant main effect was found between age groups 18-28 and 46+ regarding sibling conflict and superiority. However, no significant effect was found between age and gender regarding sibling admiration/pride, closeness, jealousy and maternal/paternal rivalr

‘Is the library open?’: Correlating unaffiliated access to academic libraries with open access support

© 2019, Igitur, Utrecht Publishing and Archiving Services. All rights reserved. In the context of a growing international focus on open access publishing options and mandates, this paper explores the extent to which the ideals of ‘openness’ are also being applied to physical knowledge resources and research spaces. This study, which forms part of the larger Curtin Open Knowledge Initiative project, investigates the relationship between academic library access policies and institutional positions on open access or open science publishing. Analysis of library access policies and related documents from twenty academic institutions in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, Africa and the United Kingdom shows that physical access to libraries for members of the public who are not affiliated with a university is often the most restricted category of access. Many libraries impose financial and sometimes security barriers on entry to buildings, limiting access to collections in print and other non-digital formats. The limits placed on physical access to libraries contrast strongly with the central role that these institutions play in facilitating open access in digital form for research outputs through institutional repositories and open access publishing policies. We compared library access policies and practices with open access publishing and research sharing policies for the same institutions and found limited correlation between both sets of policies. Comparing the two assessments using Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient confirmed open access policies have a direct association with the narrow aspects of public access provided through online availability of formal publications, but are not necessarily associated (in the universities in this study) with delivering on a broader commitment to public access to knowledge. The results suggest that while institutional mission statements and academic library policies may refer to sharing of knowledge and research and community collaboration, multiple layers of library user categories, levels of privilege and fees charged can inhibit the realisation of these goals. As open access publishing options and mandates expand, physical entry to academic libraries and access to print and electronic resources has contracted. This varies within and across countries, but it conflicts with global library and information commitments to open access to knowledge

Multilingual construction of Communicative Development Inventories in Southern Africa

The Communicative Development Inventories (CDIs) are a set of validated, parent-completed questionnaires assessing children's vocabulary, gesture, and grammatical development. They have many benefits but in particular administration does not require a qualified psychologist or speech-language therapist, making them ideal for settings with poor access to professionals. In addition they are cheap to administer at scale, again benefitting low resource settings. Further, they are relatively easy to develop for languages that are not well described in terms of development, meaning they can be adapted easily to under-studied languages. The CDIs have previously been adapted for Asian (1), Indo-European (2), other European (3), Pacific Island (4) and some African languages (5,6). They have been used successfully in studies of health risks (nutrition, infection) in sub-Saharan Africa (7), again meaning they are useful for impoverished settings and child development issues prevalent in such settings. We are in process of developing CDIs for six languages spoken in Southern Africa (IsiXhosa, Setswana, Sesotho, Xitsonga, Afrikaans and South African English). We have developed a common method for each language starting with a long list of words taken from other CDIs, following on to parent/practitioner assessment of face validity of these words in their translations, and continuing to piloting, instrument reduction, and validation. Within validation we look at correlation with age, and relationship to other variables including family socio-economic status, and child language performance measured in the home or lab. We also apply these methods to the assessment of gesture using the CDI. Some of the languages to be studied are related to each other (of the Bantu group of African languages) and to two languages for which CDIs have been developed in East Africa (5); for these we will highlight common grammatical development to be examined that exists in all of the related languages. In the East African setting parents were found to be valid observers of their child's morpheme omissions so this is a particular focus for assessment of grammatical development. To date we have developed four pilot versions (IsiXhosa, Setswana, Sesotho, and Afrikaans). Vocabulary in isiXhosa is found to be significantly related to toddler age, mother education, and first-born status, among other known correlates of child language (8). In Sesotho, toddler vocabulary is also significantly related to age (9). In the other languages (Xitsonga and SA English) we have created pre-pilot word lists and carried out focus groups with parents enabling us to determine the acceptability of the words on our long-lists. We conclude that construction of CDIs in multiple (some unrelated) languages simultaneously is possible with rigorous application of the same methods to each language. Where languages are under-studied, we can benefit from previous research and descriptions of development in related languages. 1.Tardif, J. Child Lang. 36, (2009). 2.Caselli, J. Child Lang. 26, (1999); Bleses, J. Child Lang. 35, (2008). 3.Barrena, in A portrait of the young in the new multilingual Spain. (2008), vol. 9. 4.Reese, First Language 35, (2015). 5.Alcock, J. Child Lang. 42, (2015). 6.Prado, Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition 37, (2018). 7.Prado, J. Child Psychol.Psychi. 58, (2017); Alcock, BMC research notes 9, (2016). 8.Whitelaw, University of Cape Town (2018). 9.Horn, Cape Town (2018)

PrEdiction of Risk and Communication of outcomE followIng major lower limb amputation – a collaboratiVE study (PERCEIVE): Protocol for the PERCEIVE qualitative study

INTRODUCTION: Deciding whether to proceed with a major lower limb amputation is life-changing and complex, and it is crucial that the right decision is made at the right time. However, medical specialists are known to poorly predict risk when assessing patients for major surgery, and there is little guidance and research regarding decisions about amputation. The process of shared decision-making between doctors and patients during surgical consultations is also little understood. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyse in depth the communication, consent, risk prediction and decision-making process in relation to major lower limb amputation. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: Consultations between patients and surgeons at which major lower limb amputation is discussed will be audio-recorded for 10–15 patients. Semi-structured follow-up interviews with patients (and relatives/carers) will then be conducted at two time points: as soon as possible/appropriate after a decision has been reached regarding surgery, and approximately 6 months later. Semi-structured interviews will also be conducted with 10–15 healthcare professionals working in the UK National Health Service (NHS) involved in amputation decision-making. This will include surgeons, anaesthetists and specialist physiotherapists at 2–4 NHS Health Boards/Trusts in Wales and England. Discourse analysis will be used to analyse the recorded consultations; interviews will be analysed thematically. Finally, workshops will be held with patients and healthcare professionals to help synthesise and interpret findings. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study has been approved by Wales REC 7 (20/WA/0351). Study findings will be published in international peer-reviewed journal(s) and presented at national and international scientific meetings. Findings will also be disseminated to a wide NHS and lay audience via presentations at meetings and written summaries for key stakeholder groups

The PERCEIVE quantitative study: PrEdiction of Risk and Communication of outcome following major lower limb amputation: protocol for a collaboratiVE study

BACKGROUND: Accurate prediction of outcomes following surgery with high morbidity and mortality rates is essential for informed shared decision-making between patients and clinicians. It is unknown how accurately healthcare professionals predict outcomes following major lower-limb amputation (MLLA). Several MLLA outcome-prediction tools have been developed. These could be valuable in clinical practice, but most require validation in independent cohorts before routine clinical use can be recommended. The primary aim of this study is to evaluate the accuracy of healthcare professionals’ predictions of outcomes in adult patients undergoing MLLA for complications of chronic limb-threatening ischaemia (CLTI) or diabetes. Secondary aims include the validation of existing outcome-prediction tools. METHOD: This study is an international, multicentre prospective observational study including adult patients undergoing a primary MLLA for CLTI or diabetes. Healthcare professionals’ accuracy in predicting outcomes at 30-days (death, morbidity and MLLA revision) and 1-year (death, MLLA revision and ambulation) will be evaluated. Sixteen existing outcome-prediction tools specific to MLLA will be examined for validity. Data collection began on 1 October 2020; the end of follow-up will be 1 May 2022. The C-statistic, Hosmer–Lemeshow test, reclassification tables and Brier score will be used to evaluate the predictive performance of healthcare professionals and prediction tools, respectively. STUDY REGISTRATION AND DISSEMINATION: This study will be registered locally at each centre in accordance with local policies before commencing data collection, overseen by local clinician leads. Results will be disseminated to all centres, and any subsequent presentation(s) and/or publication(s) will follow a collaborative co-authorship model

Combined Vorinostat and Chloroquine Inhibit Sodium Iodide Symporter Endocytosis and Enhance Radionuclide Uptake In Vivo

Purpose Patients with aggressive thyroid cancer are frequently failed by the central therapy of ablative radioiodide (RAI) uptake, due to reduced plasma membrane (PM) localization of the sodium/iodide symporter (NIS). We aimed to understand how NIS is endocytosed away from the PM of human thyroid cancer cells, and whether this was druggable in vivo.Experimental DesignInformed by analysis of endocytic gene expression in patients with aggressive thyroid cancer, we used mutagenesis, NanoBiT interaction assays, cell surface biotinylation assays, RAI uptake and NanoBRET to understand the mechanisms of NIS endocytosis in transformed cell lines and patient-derived human primary thyroid cells. Systemic drug responses were monitored via 99mTc pertechnetate gamma counting and gene expression in BALB/c mice.ResultsWe identify an acidic dipeptide within the NIS C-terminus which mediates binding to the 2 subunit of the Adaptor Protein 2 (AP2) heterotetramer. We discovered that the FDA-approved drug chloroquine modulates NIS accumulation at the PM in a functional manner that is AP2 dependent. In vivo, chloroquine treatment of BALB/c mice significantly enhanced thyroidal uptake of 99mTc pertechnetate in combination with the histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor vorinostat/ SAHA, accompanied by increased thyroidal NIS mRNA. Bioinformatic analyses validated the clinical relevance of AP2 genes with disease-free survival in RAI-treated DTC, enabling construction of an AP2 gene-related risk score classifier for predicting recurrence.ConclusionsNIS internalisation is specifically druggable in vivo. Our data therefore provide new translatable potential for improving RAI therapy using FDA-approved drugs in patients with aggressive thyroid cancer.<br/