Preventing childhood obesity by reducing consumption of carbonated drinks: cluster randomised controlled trial

Objective To determine if a school based educational programme aimed at reducing consumption of carbonated drinks can prevent excessive weight gain in children. Design Cluster randomised controlled trial. Setting Six primary schools in southwest England. Participants 644 children aged 7-11 years. Intervention Focused educational programme on nutrition over one school year. Main outcome measures Drink consumption and number of overweight and obese children. Results Consumption of carbonated drinks over three days decreased by 0.6 glasses (average glass size 250 ml) in the intervention group but increased by 0.2 glasses in the control group (mean difference 0.7, 95% confidence interval 0.1 to 1.3). At 12 months the percentage of overweight and obese children increased in the control group by 7.5%, compared with a decrease in the intervention group of 0.2% (mean difference 7.7%, 2.2% to 13.1%). Conclusion A targeted, school based education programme produced a modest reduction in the number of carbonated drinks consumed, which was associated with a reduction in the number of overweight and obese children

Pancreatitis following Olanzapine Therapy: A Report of Three Cases

CONTEXT: Atypical antipsychotic agents (clozapine, olanzapine) have been linked to metabolic effects and acute pancreatitis. CASE REPORT: We reviewed the inpatient and outpatient records of three patients who developed acute pancreatitis while being treated with olanzapine. The mean age of the patients was 37.7 years (range 18–54 years, 2 female, 1 male). No alternative cause of acute pancreatitis was found in two of the three patients. In the remaining patient, olanzapine may have contributed to acute pancreatitis in the setting of hypertriglyceridemia. Olanzapine was discontinued in all instances. Over a mean follow-up of 14 months, one patient has had a relapsing course, but the remaining two patients have been symptom free without recurrence of acute pancreatitis. CONCLUSIONS: Our case series adds further support to the potential link between olanzapine use and acute pancreatitis. Close monitoring of metabolic parameters is suggested in patients treated with olanzapine. Alternative antipsychotic agents should be considered in patients at high risk for pancreatitis

Citizenship education in England 2001-2010 : young people's practices and prospects for the future : the eighth and final report from the Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS)

On the one hand, there has been a marked and steady increase in young people’s civic and political participation and indications that these young people will continue to participate as adult citizens. In contrast, there has been a hardening of attitudes toward equality and society, a weakening of attachment to communities and fluctuating levels of engagement, efficacy and trust in the political arena. The factors that shape young people’s citizenship outcomes include age and life-stage, background factors, prior citizenship outcomes, as well as levels of ‘received’ citizenship education

The significance of the Wigtownshire Hearth Tax lists

Presentation of the 1695 Wigtownshire Hearth Tax edition together with a thesis focussing on the historical value of the tax lists. The discussion provides a historical context for the tax lists and includes an analysis of the distribution of hearths, kilns, smiddies, saltpans and furnaces as indicators of wealth, social status and evidence of social, economic and agricultural development. Comparison is provided with other Hearth Tax lists and with contemporary records such as the poll tax returns, and also from later records such as early census information. The Hearth Tax is also compared with different Wigtownshire records from earlier and later periods (Wigtownshire Charters, parish records and the statistical accounts). The significance of the high proportion and distribution of recognisably Gaelic surnames apparent in the Wigtownshire hearth taxlists is also highlighted. The edition also includes an index of surnames, place-names, tabular information and illustrations

Static and Dynamic Coefficient Measurements for a Thrust Collar Used in an Integrally Geared Compressor

Test rigs that replicate the conditions for thrust collars (TCs) used in an integrally geared compressor (IGC) are scarce. The test rig described here is based on a typical IGC and is the first rig specifically designed to measure the dynamic reaction force coefficients of the lubricated area of the TC. The test rig uses low-speed and high-speed shafts with independently controlled speed and a pneumatically pressurized thrust disk to apply an axial load ???v?? to create the hydrodynamic wedge that balances the imposed axial load. The speed ratio between the low-speed shaft (LSS) and the pinion shaft is 11.67. The geometry of the shafts matches that of a typical IGC. Tests were conducted at pinion speeds of 5, 7.5, and 10 krpm and ???v?? = 200, 300, and 400 N. The resulting range of applied pressures is smaller than those arising in practice. The author conducts static tests by applying an incrementally-increasing ??v?? on the pinion shaft and measuring the relative displacement between the BG and the TC (??v??). One test is conducted at each predetermined spin speed. Run-out on the TC as well as the BW obscures the data. Averaging works well to eliminate the effects of run-out. The author uses the averaged ???v?? and ??v?? values to create a static, load/ relative displacement curve and the slope is the measured static stiffness coefficient (???v?? ). The axial stiffness coefficient results are compared to predictions from a code based on a 2016 model due to Cable et. al. Their dynamic reaction-force model is ??v???? = ???v???v?? – ??v???v?? where ?????? is the reaction force of the TC, and ???? is the axial damping coefficient. The trends and the magnitudes of the measured ???v?? values and the predicted values from San Andres code for ??v?? agree very well, especially for the 5 krpm test case. The author then conducts dynamic tests involving an applied impulse load to the TC shaft. One hundred impulses are conducted at each spin speed (??), ???v?? test condition for averaging purposes. A one degree of freedom damped motion model uses ?v??(??) measurements to determine the damped natural frequency (????) and damping factor (??) for each test point. The thrust collar mass ??v???? and the measured ?? were then used to calculate ??v?? and ??v?? . The ???? values obtained in this fashion were consistently (and markedly) smaller than the static ???v?? values. Based on the results, the author uses the following model ??v???? = ???v???v?? ? ??v???v?? ? ? ??v????v?? that includes the virtual-mass coefficient (??v??). The Cable et al. model was based on the Reynolds equation and accordingly did not produce a virtual-mass term. The ??v?? term is calculated for each test point using ???v?? , ??v??, and ??. ??v?? increases as a function ?? and ???v?? . It ranges from 0 to 19.5 kg; the mass of the pinion shaft is 12.8 kg. Both predictions and measurements show an increase in ??v?? with increasing ???v?? . The test rig produced damping coefficients that increased for increasing ??, while the predicted values decreased. The magnitude of ??v?? was lower than the predicted damping by a factor of 2 - 10