Evaluation of the computers for pupils initiative: final report

The Computers for Pupils (CfP) initiative aimed to help overcome the digital divide, which can prevent young people from disadvantaged backgrounds from enjoying the benefits of access to information and communications technology. The initiative provided funding for schools in deprived areas to invest in home access to ICT for their neediest pupils in order to: • give eligible learners the same opportunities as their peers • contribute to raising educational achievement • support personalised learning • encourage the development of ICT skills among learners and families. In December 2006, Becta commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) to undertake a national evaluation of the CfP initiative. The main aim of the two-year evaluation was to assess the impact of CfP on learners and their families and to explore how schools and teachers had developed their pedagogic practices in order to support and capitalise on the new educational opportunities afforded by the technology. The evaluation involved distinct though interrelated strands of quantitative and qualitative research: • Questionnaire surveys of teachers in CfP schools, learners selected for CfP, and learners’ parents, which were conducted twice (autumn 2007 and 2008) in order to explore changes in general access to and use of computers and ICT, and assess the impact of the CfP initiative • In-depth case-study research across 13 schools within eight local authorities (LAs) in the spring and summer terms 2008 and again in the autumn term 2008 (including the same LAs and schools at all time points), in order to explore through detailed interviews perceptions of the implementation and impact of CfP. Key findings in relation to the aims of CfP

Seeing the way: visual sociology and the distance runner's perspective

Employing visual and autoethnographic data from a two‐year research project on distance runners, this article seeks to examine the activity of seeing in relation to the activity of distance running. One of its methodological aims is to develop the linkage between visual and autoethnographic data in combining an observation‐based narrative and sociological analysis with photographs. This combination aims to convey to the reader not only some of the specific subcultural knowledge and particular ways of seeing, but also something of the runner's embodied feelings and experience of momentum en route. Via the combination of narrative and photographs we seek a more effective way of communicating just how distance runners see and experience their training terrain. The importance of subjecting mundane everyday practices to detailed sociological analysis has been highlighted by many sociologists, including those of an ethnomethodological perspective. Indeed, without the competence of social actors in accomplishing these mundane, routine understandings and practices, it is argued, there would in fact be no social order

Selection of porcine intestinal isolates as probiotics for pathogen reduction in pigs

Putative lactobacilli were isolated from the porcine small intestine and assessed in vitro for potential probiotic traits. Viability of all isolates tested was unaffected at porcine bile concentrations of 0.3 % (w/v), with some tolerating up to 3.5 % (w/v) bile. Randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and/or pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) were used to genetically fingerprint the porcine isolates. Some of these cultures demonstrated antagonistic activity against pathogens Escherichia coli O157:H45 and Salmonella typhimurium DT104 when assayed on agar plates and in co-culture. For example, no Salmonella were detected after 8 h of associative culture with one intestinal isolate,L. salivarius B-24. However, when co-cultured under constant pH conditions, no inhibition was observed, indicating that acid may be one of the mechanisms involved in the antimicrobial activity of this strain. Assessment of these strains is on-going with a view to the development of probiotic feed additives which could potentially reduce pathogen carriage in pigs

A two-arm parallel-group individually randomised prison pilot study of a male remand alcohol intervention for self-efficacy enhancement:The APPRAISE study protocol

Introduction The prevalence of at-risk drinking is far higher among those in contact with the criminal justice system (73%) than the general population (35%). However, there is little evidence on the effectiveness of alcohol brief interventions (ABIs) in reducing risky drinking among those in the criminal justice system, including the prison system and, in particular, those on remand. Building on earlier work, A two-arm parallel group individually randomised Prison Pilot study of a male Remand Alcohol Intervention for Self-efficacy Enhancement (APPRAISE) is a pilot study designed to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an ABI, delivered to male prisoners on remand. The findings of APPRAISE should provide the information required to design a future definitive randomised controlled trial (RCT). Methods and analysis APPRAISE will use mixed methods, with two linked phases, across two prisons in the UK, recruiting 180 adult men on remand: 90 from Scotland and 90 from England. Phase I will involve a two-arm, parallel-group, individually randomised pilot study. The pilot evaluation will provide data on the likely impact of A two-arm parallel group individually randomised Prison Pilot study of a male Remand Alcohol Intervention for Self-efficacy Enhancement (APPRAISE), which will be used to inform a future definitive multicentre RCT. Phase II will be a process evaluation assessing how the ABI has been implemented to explore the change mechanisms underpinning the ABI (figure 1) and to assess the context within which the ABI is delivered. Ethics and dissemination The APPRAISE protocol has been approved by the East of Scotland Research Ethics Committee (19/ES/0068), National Offender Management System (2019-240), Health Board Research and Development (2019/0268), Scottish Prison Service research and ethics committee, and by the University of Edinburgh’s internal ethics department. The findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed journal publications, presentations at local, national and international conferences, infographics and shared with relevant stakeholders through meetings and events.Additional co-authors: Jeremy Bray, Jennifer Ferguson, Arun Sondhi, Kieran Lynch, Jessica Rees, Dorothy Newbury-Birc

The Geography of Diabetes in London, Canada: The Need for Local Level Policy for Prevention and Management

Recent reports aimed at improving diabetes care in socially disadvantaged populations suggest that interventions must be tailored to meet the unique needs of the local community—specifically, the community’s geography. We have examined the spatial distribution of diabetes in the context of socioeconomic determinants of health in London (Ontario, Canada) to characterize neighbourhoods in an effort to target these neighbourhoods for local level community-based program planning and intervention. Multivariate spatial-statistical techniques and geographic information systems were used to examine diabetes rates and socioeconomic variables aggregated at the census tract level. Creation of a deprivation index facilitated investigation across multiple determinants of health. Findings from our research identified ‘at risk’ neighbourhoods in London with socioeconomic disadvantage and high diabetes. Future endeavours must continue to identify local level trends in order to support policy development, resource planning and care for improved health outcomes and improved equity in access to care across geographic regions

Border Insecurity: Reading Transnational Environments in Jim Lynch’s Border Songs

This article applies an eco-critical approach to contemporary American fiction about the Canada-US border, examining Jim Lynch’s portrayal of the British Columbia-Washington borderlands in his 2009 novel Border Songs. It argues that studying transnational environmental actors in border texts—in this case, marijuana, human migrants, and migratory birds—helps illuminate the contingency of political boundaries, problems of scale, and discourses of risk and security in cross-border regions after 9/11. Further, it suggests that widening the analysis of trans-border activity to include environmental phenomena productively troubles concepts of nature and regional belonging in an era of climate change and economic globalization. Cet article propose une lecture écocritique de la fiction étatsunienne contemporaine portant sur la frontière entre le Canada et les États-Unis, en étudiant le portrait donné par Jim Lynch de la région frontalière entre la Colombie-Britannique et Washington dans son roman Border Songs, paru en 2009. L’article soutient que l’étude, dans les textes sur la frontière, des acteurs environnementaux transnationaux – dans ce cas-ci, la marijuana, les migrants humains et les oiseaux migratoires – jette un jour nouveau sur la contingence des limites territoriales politiques, des problèmes d’échelle et des discours sur le risque et la sécurité des régions transfrontalières après les évènements du 11 septembre 2001. Il suggère également qu’en élargissant l’analyse de l’activité transfrontalière pour y inclure les phénomènes environnementaux, on brouille de façon productive les concepts de nature et d’appartenance régionale d’une époque marquée par les changements climatiques et la mondialisation de l’économie

Development of a psychological intervention for fatigue after stroke

Post-stroke fatigue (PSF) is common and distressing, but there is insufficient evidence to recommend any effective treatment for it. Psychological interventions are effective in treating fatigue in other conditions. This paper describes the development and evaluation of the feasibility of a psychological intervention for PSF.Based on psychological correlates of PSF and evidence-based psychological interventions for fatigue in other medical conditions, we developed a manualised psychological intervention for PSF, with input from stroke clinicians, psychological therapists, and stroke survivors. The intervention was delivered by a clinical psychologist to 12 participants with PSF to test its acceptability and feasibility. According to the feedback from participants and therapists, the intervention was refined for future use.The intervention consisted of six individual, face-to-face treatment sessions, and one follow-up, telephone-delivered booster session. It included psycho-education and discussion of strategies to promote physical and social activities and to challenge unhelpful thoughts. Four participants dropped out and the remaining eight participants completed the intervention. These eight participants also completed all assessments and feedback and reported fatigue levels as lower at the end of the study than at the baseline. All participants reported favourable opinions on the intervention and suggested that the last two treatment sessions be combined and the booster session be delivered in person as opposed to telephone.This psychological intervention was acceptable to stroke patients and was feasible in the local health service. These findings suggest that a randomised controlled trial to test efficacy is warranted