Framework for better living with HIV in England

Duration: April 2007 - May 2009 Sigma Research was funded by Terrence Higgins Trust to co-ordinate the development of a framework to address the health, social care, support and information needs of people with diagnosed HIV in England. It has now been published as the Framework for better living with HIV in England. The over-arching goal of the framework is that all people with diagnosed HIV in England "are enabled to have the maximum level of health, well-being, quality of life and social integration". In its explanation of how this should occur the document presents a road map for social care, support and information provision to people with diagnosed HIV in England. By establishing and communicating aims and objectives, the framework should build consensus and provide a means to establish how interventions could be prioritised and coordinated. The key drivers for the framework were clearly articulated ethical principles, agreed by all those who sign up to it, and an inclusive social development / health promotion approach. Sigma Research worked on the framework with a range of other organisations who sent representatives to a Framework Development Group (see below for membership). The framework is evidence-based and seeks to: Promote and protect the rights and well-being of all people with HIV in England. Maximise the capacity of individuals and groups of people with HIV to care for, advocate and represent themselves effectively. Improve and protect access to appropriate information, social support, social care and clinical services. Minimise social, economic, governmental and judicial change detrimental to the health and well being of people with HIV. Alongside the development of the framework, Sigma Research undertook a national needs assessment among people with diagnosed HIV across the UK called What do you need?. These two projects informed and supported each other. Framework Development Group included: African HV Policy Network Black Health Agency George House Trust NAM NAT (National AIDS Trust) Positively Women Terrence Higgins Trus

EFFECT OF INCREASING VERTICAL CENTRE OF MASS DISPLACEMENT ON THE BIOMECHANICAL STIMULUS OF TRADITIONAL RESISTANCE TRAINING EXERCISES

This study investigated the effect of systematically increasing vertical COM displacement on the biomechanical stimulus of a traditional resistance training exercise. Fourteen male rugby union athletes performed maximum velocity repetitions of the deadlift to four different final vertical positions with external loads of 20, 40 and 60% 1RM. Significant increases in force, velocity and power were obtained with lifting techniques that resulted in greater vertical COM displacement, although significant interaction effects revealed that improvements were attenuated with heavier loads. These results have applications to strength and conditioning practice, whereby the traditional resistance training exercise stimulus can be augmented without imposing the overly large eccentric musculoskeletal loads characteristic of landing from maximal weighted vertical jumps

EFFECT OF LOAD POSITIONING ON THE KINEMATICS AND KINETICS OF WEIGHTED JUMPS

The present study sought to examine the effect of altering the position of external loads on the kinematics and kinetics of weighted vertical jumps in 29 resistance trained rugby union athletes. Vertical jumps were performed with loads of 20, 40 and 60% squat 1RM with the load positioned: 1) on the posterior aspect of the shoulder using a traditional barbell (TBJ); and 2) at arms’ length using a hexagonal barbell (HBJ). Weighted jumps performed with the load held at arms’ length resulted in significantly greater values for jump height, peak force, peak power, and peak rate of force development (

Risk Assessment Plan for Petroleum Underground Storage Tanks in Kentucky, Part ll: Diesel, Heating Oil, Other Middle Distillates and Waste Oil

This report consists of an appendix :Risk Assessment Plan for Petroleum Underground Storage Tanks in Kentucky and a second appendix: Environmental Half-Life and Ecological Effects of PAH

Dynamic optimal taxation with human capital.

This paper revisits the dynamic optimal taxation results of Jones, Manuelli, and Rossi (1993, 1997). They use a growth model with human capital and find that optimal taxes on both capital income and labor income converge to zero in steady state. For one of the models under consideration, I show that the representative household's problem does not have an interior solution. This raises concerns since these corners are inconsistent with aggregate data. Interiority is restored if preferences are modified so that human capital augments the value of leisure time. With this change, the optimal tax problem is analyzed and, reassuringly, the Jones, Manuelli, and Rossi results are confirmed: neither capital income nor labor income should be taxed in steady state

Polyploidy breaks speciation barriers in Australian burrowing frogs Neobatrachus

Polyploidy has played an important role in evolution across the tree of life but it is still unclear how polyploid lineages may persist after their initial formation. While both common and well-studied in plants, polyploidy is rare in animals and generally less understood. The Australian burrowing frog genus Neobatrachus is comprised of six diploid and three polyploid species and offers a powerful animal polyploid model system. We generated exome-capture sequence data from 87 individuals representing all nine species of Neobatrachus to investigate species-level relationships, the origin and inheritance mode of polyploid species, and the population genomic effects of polyploidy on genus-wide demography. We describe rapid speciation of diploid Neobatrachus species and show that the three independently originated polyploid species have tetrasomic or mixed inheritance. We document higher genetic diversity in tetraploids, resulting from widespread gene flow between the tetraploids, asymmetric inter-ploidy gene flow directed from sympatric diploids to tetraploids, and isolation of diploid species from each other. We also constructed models of ecologically suitable areas for each species to investigate the impact of climate on differing ploidy levels. These models suggest substantial change in suitable areas compared to past climate, which correspond to population genomic estimates of demographic histories. We propose that Neobatrachus diploids may be suffering the early genomic impacts of climate-induced habitat loss, while tetraploids appear to be avoiding this fate, possibly due to widespread gene flow. Finally, we demonstrate that Neobatrachus is an attractive model to study the effects of ploidy on the evolution of adaptation in animals

The Leadership Role of Psychiatrists in the NHS

This article explores leadership in the context of psychiatry in the NHS. It identifies considerable policy challenges facing psychiatry such as recent attempts to upgrade mental health services and bring them up to par with other services. It suggests it will become increasingly necessary for the profession to respond to such challengers by engaging with leadership at various levels. The article suggests there may be merit in exploring one particular approach to leadership, namely transformational leadership, given its emphasis on dealing with change. Psychiatrists may find the behaviours associated with this approach of particular relevance. However, it suggests that there may need to adopt a particular variant of transformational leadership that acknowledges both the achievement of objectives and showing genuine concern for followers. The latter is important given the on going problem of clinical engagement in the NHS. The article concludes with the developmental implications in adopting this leadership approach