The scourge of Asian Flu: in utero exposure to pandemic influenza and the development of a cohort of British children

This paper examines the impact of in utero exposure to the Asian influenza pandemic of 1957 upon physical and cognitive development in childhood. Outcome data is provided by the National Child Development Study (NCDS), a panel study of a cohort of British children who were all potentially exposed in the womb. Epidemic effects are identified using geographic variation in a surrogate measure of the epidemic. Results indicate significant detrimental effects of the epidemic upon birth weight and height at 7 and 11, but only for the offspring of mother's with certain health characteristics. By contrast, the impact of the epidemic on childhood cognitive test scores is more general: test scores are reduced at the mean, and effects remain constant across maternal health and socioeconomic indicators. Taken together, our results point to multiple channels linking foetal health shocks to childhood outcomes.NCDS; foetal origins; birth weight; influenza

Self-Assembly of Azobenzene Photosurfactants and the Relationship with Macroscopic Properties

Azobenzene photosurfactants (AzoPS) demonstrate the combined ability to change their shape upon irradiation with light and to self-organise into polymolecular assemblies. Photoisomerisation changes the polarity and shape of the surfactant on demand, which has led to the exploration of these materials in a diverse range of applications. The interplay between these properties also affects the concentration-dependent self-assembly of azobenzene photosurfactant into micelles. This thesis focuses on four non-ionic azobenzene photosurfactants, which have been systematically varied in terms of their structure to study their self-assembly behaviour as a function of molecular structure, isomeric form, concentration, temperature and applied shear. The reciprocal effect of self-assembly behaviour on macroscopic properties such as viscosity, viscoelasticity, optical anisotropy and soft-templating ability is also investigated, emphasising how control over self-assembled structure can be used to modulate key properties and applications. In general, non-ionic photosurfactants have been less studied compared to their ionic counterparts and there are very few reports of their behaviour under shear, formation of lyotropic liquid crystal phases and use as templating agents. In this work, small-angle scattering is used extensively to probe the shape and dimensions of the self-assembled surfactant aggregates in solution. It will become apparent this is a key technique in the characterisation of dynamic and soft matter systems. Chapter 3 of this thesis will focus on the dynamic self-assembly behaviour of two AzoPS under photoisomerisation, with an initial study on the flow behaviour. Chapter 4 will take a more detailed look into the relationship between the self-assembled structure and flow behaviour of an AzoPS, using combined rheology and small-angle scattering measurements. In Chapter 5, the formation of lyotropic liquid crystal phases by all four AzoPS as a function of concentration, temperature and isomeric form, will be investigated, and binary concentration-temperature phase diagrams for each AzoPS constructed. In Chapter 6, the ability of AzoPS to act as soft-templating agents to form porous titania nanoparticles will be proven, along with an investigation on the effect of template structure and irradiation conditions on the photocatalytic ability of the product titania. Finally, conclusions will be drawn on the basis of the above results, along with a discussion of the evolution of the field during the time this work took place, with signposting for potential future work

Feeding behaviors of laying hens and pullets with or without beak trimming

Understanding feeding characteristics of animals is of fundamental value to engineering design and management strategies for enhanced well-being and production efficiency. White Leghorn laying hens have a high tendency of feather pecking and cannibalism. Beak trimming has been a management practice used by the U.S. poultry industry to prevent such cannibalism. However, beak trimming may temporarily or permanently alter the feeding behavior of the birds, which may need to be considered in the engineering design or management schemes (e.g., number of birds per feeder or per feed-line space, time allocation in a mealtime feeding scheme). This study aims to systematically evaluate feeding behaviors of poultry, under both nearly natural conditions and various modified conditions as encountered in commercial production situations. Electronic instrumentation systems and an analytical algorithm are used to yield meal size, meal duration, ingestion rate, and meal interval. The first study examined the comparative feeding behaviors of laying hens with or without beak trimming and revealed intriguing results. A second study quantifies feeding behavior of pullets with or without beak trimming during the period subsequent to beak trimming at 7 days of age. The approach may also be used as a non-invasive means to quantify animal welfare

Direct Supervisor Influence on Nurse Engagement

Nurse engagement is essential for organizational success. If organizations can engage nurses, they may be able to improve organization and patient outcomes. The purpose of the evidence-based practice project was to use current evidence of direct supervisor influence on nurse engagement to create an educational program for clinical leads to use in their interactions with direct reports. The relationship-based care model was used as a framework for the project, and concepts included work engagement, nurse engagement, recognition versus meaningful recognition, professional development, communication, transformational leadership, and authentic leadership. Before and after attending the education program, clinical leads were given a self-assessment on a 5-point Likert scale to assess their perception of their leadership skills. The data were analyzed using SPSS descriptive statistics to describe differences in pre and post education self-assessments. All of the questions had increased means following the education program. The most improvement was in the following areas: coordinating relationships among staff improved by50% and accepting and using constructive criticism improved by 50%. Clinical leads recognized that having the knowledge and tools would give them the ability to impact nurse engagement. Researchers should continue to study the leader\u27s influence on nurse engagement in relationship to other environmental factors that influence nurse engagement; as well as, how to better prepare leaders to engage nurses in his/her professional roles

Implementing person centred dementia care: a musical intervention

Purpose - Recent years have seen the advocacy of person centred approaches to dementia care. An important component of this approach has been the use of arts in the promotion of health and wellbeing. However, relatively little attention has been given to the barriers and facilitators experienced in trying to implement these types of interventions in a dementia care setting. It is therefore the purpose of this article to help to redress this neglect by examining the process of implementing a personalized musical intervention for clients of a specialist dementia home care service. Design/methodology/approach - Drawing on interviews with five project stakeholders, the paper examines, not only the potential benefits to be gained from the musical intervention but also identifies the barriers experienced in its implementation and ways in which they could be overcome. Findings - It was found that although the musical intervention had a potentially positive impact, there were multi-leveled barriers to its implementation including issues of training, leadership as well as contextual issues such as commissioning and resourcing more generally. Originality/value - The key role played by these issues in the process of implementation suggests that practice should transcend its focus on individual well-being and address the wider factors that can facilitate or prevent its fulfillment. While the multi-leveled nature of the obstacles identified suggest that the implementation of innovative interventions within health and social care settings should adopt a similarly eclectic approach

Who’s Talking about Scholarly Communication? An Examination of Gender and Behavior on the SCHOLCOMM Listserv

INTRODUCTION This study analyzes the gender dynamics of the American Library Association’s SCHOLCOMM listserv in order to determine the accuracy of concerns expressed by participants in early 2016 regarding an overrepresentation of male voices on the listserv. METHODS Utilizing the SCHOLCOMM listserv archive, openly available online, the authors analyzed metadata related to individual messages in order to create a comprehensive list of participants, which was then analyzed to determine gender identity. The authors utilized this information to correlate the frequency of new messages and replies sent to the list with the gender identity of participants. RESULTS While men represented 35% of the SCHOLCOMM list’s participants, they contributed over half of the messages sent to the listserv and two-thirds of those sent as replies on existing message threads. DISCUSSION The opinion of several SCHOLCOMM participants that male voices were overrepresented in listserv discussions proved to be true. The gender identity breakdown of those most active on the list may also influence the perceptions and/or behaviors of other listserv participants, however, and should be investigated further. CONCLUSION While this study substantiates the opinion of several listserv participants that male SCHOLCOMM participants account for a disproportionately large amount of listserv discussion, we argue that the dynamics of the listserv can and should be changed in order to better represent the participant population

Who\u27s Talking about Scholarly Communication? Poster Presented at MiALA 2017

This study analyzes gender dynamics on the ALA\u27s SCHOLCOMM listserv. Utilizing the listserv archive, the presenters analyzed individual message metadata in order to create a list of participants along with their gender; this was then utilized to correlate the frequency of new messages and replies sent to the list with the gender identity of participants. The results of the study clearly show that male participation on the list is disproportionately large

Introduction, LTC volume 17

This collection of articles was prompted by our concern with the ways in which the treatment of strangers is understood socially, culturally, politically and legally. The actions of successive Australian governments seem deliberately to avoid any engagement with a notion of hospitality as an obligation to assist those in need, to accommodate the visitor or the alien. The arrival of strangers is instead viewed as hostile – an infringement of national sovereignty, rather than an appeal for assistance. The common social response is a kind of panic that is not justified by the number of applicants, which is tiny by comparison with the demands on nation states elsewhere. This seems a deadly irony in a country that was founded as a nation-state by immigrants – and perhaps something of the hysteria aroused by the arrival of supplicants is a displaced recognition among non-Indigenous Australians that they are us; if we admit these strangers, perhaps they will ‘settle’ this country as violently as our forerunners did, but this time we will be the targets. Whether or not that is the case, it seemed that the time is ripe for an examination of the notion of hospitality