Evaluation of fostering network Scottish care mentoring projects

Looked after children and young people are some of the most vulnerable in our society. For Scotland’s Children highlighted the ‘continuing failure of many local authorities as ‘corporate parents’ to provide these young people with the care and education they are entitled to by law’ (Scottish Executive, 2001, p. 10). One of the major issues facing looked after young people is the process of transition from care to independence. It is a time when they have ‘a right to expect the sort of help that loving parents would provide for their children, help to reach their full potential, and the same chance to make mistakes secure in the knowledge that there is a safety net of support’ (Jamieson, 2002, p. 2). However, over a number of years, research has highlighted the poor outcomes for children leaving care. Longitudinal studies which have followed up children and young people in care as part of national cohort studies present the stark contrast in life outcomes between those who have experienced care and those who have not. Cheung and Heath (1994) compare these two groups at age 33. Only one fifth of those who had been in care had achieved O levels compared to one-third of those who had not; only half as many had achieved A levels. Only one in a hundred of those who had been in care achieved a university degree compared to one on ten of those who had not. Two fifths of those who had been in care had no formal qualifications compared to one in seven (Cheung and Heath, 1994). This lack of qualifications converted into lack of success in the job market with three times as many being unemployed (10.8 % compared to 3.6 %) and larger proportions having manual jobs as opposed to professional or non-manual jobs

A Taylor Rule for Fiscal Policy

In times of rapid macroeconomic change it would seem useful for both fiscal and monetary policy to be modified frequently. This is true for monetary policy with monthly meetings of the Open Market Committee. It is not true for fiscal policy which mostly varies with the annual Congressional budget cycle. This paper proposes a feedback framework for analyzing the question of whether or not movement from annual to quarterly fiscal policy changes would improve the performance of stabilization policy. More broadly the paper considers a complementary rather than competitive framework in which monetary policy in the form of the Taylor rule is joined by a similar fiscal policy rule. This framework is then used to consider methodological improvements in the Taylor and the fiscal policy rule to include lags, uncertainty in parameters and measurement errors.design of fiscal policy, optimal experimentation, stochastic optimization, time-varying parameters, numerical experiments

The Coronal Analysis of SHocks and Waves (CASHeW) Framework

Coronal Bright Fronts (CBF) are large-scale wavelike disturbances in the solar corona, related to solar eruptions. They are observed in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light as transient bright fronts of finite width, propagating away from the eruption source. Recent studies of individual solar eruptive events have used EUV observations of CBFs and metric radio type II burst observations to show the intimate connection between low coronal waves and coronal mass ejection (CME)-driven shocks. EUV imaging with the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly(AIA) instrument on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has proven particularly useful for detecting CBFs, which, combined with radio and in situ observations, holds great promise for early CME-driven shock characterization capability. This characterization can further be automated, and related to models of particle acceleration to produce estimates of particle fluxes in the corona and in the near Earth environment early in events. We present a framework for the Coronal Analysis of SHocks and Waves (CASHeW). It combines analysis of NASA Heliophysics System Observatory data products and relevant data-driven models, into an automated system for the characterization of off-limb coronal waves and shocks and the evaluation of their capability to accelerate solar energetic particles (SEPs). The system utilizes EUV observations and models written in the Interactive Data Language (IDL). In addition, it leverages analysis tools from the SolarSoft package of libraries, as well as third party libraries. We have tested the CASHeW framework on a representative list of coronal bright front events. Here we present its features, as well as initial results. With this framework, we hope to contribute to the overall understanding of coronal shock waves, their importance for energetic particle acceleration, as well as to the better ability to forecast SEP events fluxes.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate (SWSC

Expected optimal feedback with Time-Varying Parameters

In this paper we derive, by using dynamic programming, the closed loop form of the Expected Optimal Feedback rule with time varying parameter. As such this paper extends the work of Kendrick (1981, 2002, Chapter 6) for the time varying parameter case. Furthermore, we show that the Beck and Wieland (2002) model can be cast into this framework and can be treated as a special case of this solution.

Expected optimal feedback with Time-Varying Parameters

In this paper we derive the closed loop form of the Expected Optimal Feedback rule, sometimes called passive learning stochastic control, with time varying parameters. As such this paper extends the work of Kendrick (1981,2002, Chapter 6) where parameters are assumed to vary randomly around a known constant mean. Furthermore, we show that the cautionary myopic rule in Beck and Wieland (2002) model, a test bed for comparing various stochastic optimizations approaches, can be cast into this framework and can be treated as a special case of this solution.Optimal experimentation, stochastic optimization, time-varying parameters, expected optimal feedback

Intertidal reef communities of the Marmion & Shoalwater Islands marine parks

Intertidal platform reefs are a distinctive feature of the Perth coastline. Occurring adjacent to shoreline beaches and also as isolated offshore reefs, these limestone platforms have been formed by wave action over many centuries. Rising and falling tides exert a major influence on the structure of intertidal reef communities, and this influence typically results in a distinctive distribution of organisms based on their tolerance to being exposed to the air when the tide is low. Those inhabiting the highest part of the rocky shore, and therefore exposed more often and for longer periods, are typically hardy, desiccation-resistant species. Those living further seaward are more frequently submerged, although even these organisms may be exposed to the drying sun during particularly low tides, or can be periodically buried by the deposition of shifting beach sand. During winter storms, large waves may crash onto these reefs, stripping away algae and dislodging animals. Yet despite such harsh conditions, intertidal reefs can support a diverse assemblage of algae and invertebrates. Intertidal reefs are recognised as key ecological values of the Marmion and Shoalwater Islands marine parks that are located adjacent to the Perth metropolitan area. Between 2009 and 2012, marine scientists from DEC’s Marine Science Program and the WA Herbarium worked with local marine park staff to survey some of the numerous intertidal reefs in these marine parks to improve our understanding of the communities they support

Fast track children's hearing pilot: final report of the evaluation of the pilot

This report presents key findings of the evaluation of the Fast Track children’s hearings pilot in Scotland1. The research was undertaken by staff at the Universities of Glasgow, Stirling and Strathclyde between February 2003 and January 2005

Urinary Stone Proteins: An Update

The discovery of an organic component in kidney stones dates back to 1684. More than 150 years elapsed before the incrustation of this organic component, which is now called the matrix, was proposed as the mechanism of stone formation. The composition of the matrix remained largely unknown until the development of electron microscopy and the advances in biochemistry combined in the 1950\u27s to usher in the modern era of renal stone matrix investigation. Composed mainly of selectively incorporated proteins generally characterized by high glutamic and aspartic acid content and the frequent occurrence of y-carboxyglutamic acid, the matrix dis-plays a variable and complex composition and shares a few proteins in many stones. The embryonic stone may . first appear in the renal tubules where it can acquire the blood and cell membrane proteins recently found by analysis of stone protein extracts. The combination of supersaturation, an appropriate environment, the avail-ability of calcium binding proteins which may be abnormal, and the incorporation of proteins extracted from leukocytes and cell wall membranes may induce stone formation

Prevention of childhood poisoning in the home: overview of systematic reviews and a systematic review of primary studies

Unintentional poisoning is a significant child public health problem. This systematic overview of reviews, supplemented with a systematic review of recently published primary studies synthesizes evidence on non-legislative interventions to reduce childhood poisonings in the home with particular reference to interventions that could be implemented by Children's Centres in England or community health or social care services in other high income countries. Thirteen systematic reviews, two meta-analyses and 47 primary studies were identified. The interventions most commonly comprised education, provision of cupboard/drawer locks, and poison control centre (PCC) number stickers. Meta-analyses and primary studies provided evidence that interventions improved poison prevention practices. Twenty eight per cent of studies reporting safe medicine storage (OR from meta-analysis 1.57, 95% CI 1.22–2.02), 23% reporting safe storage of other products (OR from meta-analysis 1.63, 95% CI 1.22–2.17) and 46% reporting availability of PCC numbers (OR from meta-analysis 3.67, 95% CI 1.84–7.33) demonstrated significant effects favouring the intervention group. There was a lack of evidence that interventions reduced poisoning rates. Parents should be provided with poison prevention education, cupboard/drawer locks and emergency contact numbers to use in the event of a poisoning. Further research is required to determine whether improving poison prevention practices reduces poisoning rates