Constructing grief : an analysis of young people's talk following the unexpected death of a peer : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University

This research explores how young people talk about grief following the sudden and unexpected death of one of their peers. The study investigates the construction of grief by analysing the everyday language young people use when talking about grief. Ten bereaved young people were interviewed and their interviews transcribed to produce texts of grief talk. These texts were then analysed using the Potter & Wetherell (1992) approach to discourse analysis. The study identifies the discourse of control as an important part of the construction of grief in young people. The just world discourse that participants draw upon to construct their experience of grief as life changing and profound is also identified. Grief is constructed through talk as an external behavioural response as opposed to an internal emotion. Analysis of the talk also reveals that the participants construct grief as a collective undertaking. The embodiment of grief is identified as a way in which the participants combat the loss of ontological security caused by the death of their peer. The dominant youth culture discourse of un-emotionality is drawn upon frequently in the participants' constructions of grief. These findings offers a valuable new insight into the way in which young people construct grief differently to older adults following the sudden and unexpected death of a peer, and indicates the significance of the social and cultural context in which the study of grief occurs

The Debate about Mandatory Retirement in Ontario Universities: Positive and Personal Choices about Retirement at 65

The debate about mandatory retirement is fundamentally a moral issue, about human rights, but one strongly related to several major economic issues. Mandatory retirement is a form of age discrimination that seems to be strictly prohibited by section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights. But the Charter provides an important qualification: in that ‘it guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society’. That provision was cited in the majority decision of the Supreme Court of December 1990, known as McKinney v University of Guelph, which upheld the right of Ontario (and other Canadian) universities to impose mandatory retirement at 65, if not otherwise constrained by provincial legislation. The reasons that the majority cited to explain this decision bear directly upon important economic issues; and this paper seeks to refute all those arguments, chiefly if not exclusively on economic grounds. The first set of arguments were those contending that mandatory retirement, in a supposedly ‘closed’ system of Canadian universities, is necessary to open employment and promotion opportunities for younger workers, with fresher, more innovative ‘new blood’, i.e., by forcing academics to leave at 65 (an argument akin to one used in the past against employing females: on the grounds that they took jobs from ‘male family-breadwinners’). This basically involves the still widely held ‘lump of labour fallacy’; and it is refuted by not only economic logic but by the historical evidence from jurisdictions that have abolished mandatory retirement in full: Quebec, from 1983 (the only Canadian province so far to do so); and the United States, from 1994. Various studies now demonstrate that an end to mandatory retirement has encouraged very few to continue past the normal age of retirement, has not appreciably altered the average age of retirement, and has had no discernible consequences for the employment and advancement of much younger faculty. The second related Supreme Court argument was that mandatory retirement is necessary to obviate the need to monitor productivity in order to dismiss unproductive elderly faculty, and thus also to protect tenure (to guarantee academic freedom). This paper argues that performance monitoring is a normal feature of academic life in major North American universities; that there is no evidence that academic productivity declines with, and only with, the onset of the 60s; that in jurisdictions without mandatory retirement none of the predicted adverse consequences has taken place; and that tenure remains intact. The third argument concerns the validity of freely-negotiated labour contracts, containing provisions for mandatory retirement. In the case of the University of Toronto and many other Ontario universities, this paper demonstrates that mandatory retirement was imposed unilaterally, without negotiated contracts; but the paper also discusses the nature, and economic rationale, of such contracts that involve the suppression of individual rights in the presumed favour of the majority (if and when freely negotiated). The paper also addresses labour union concerns to protect normal retirement benefits at 65 (when most do wish to retire). The paper also considers two other economic issues not considered by the Supreme Court: (1) mandatory retirement as an employment tool to ensure greater diversity of Canadian faculty – and thus whether one may engage in one form of discrimination to combat the presumed consequences of another; and (2) mandatory retirement as a fiscal necessity, when government grants have been shrinking. Quite clearly universities do gain by rehiring forcibly retired academics to do stipendiary teaching (making a mockery of their reasons for mandatory retirement). Against this is set the costs of mandatory retirement: in promoting the flow of some productive and renowned faculty to the US; or in encouraging productive senior faculty to seek alternative employment in Canada; and in hindering (or even preventing) the recruitment of renowned senior faculty from jurisdictions that prohibit mandatory retirement.labour, the Canadian Charter of Rights, Supreme Court, age discrimination, university employment, diversity in employment, productivity, tenure, collective bargaining, contracts, individual and collective rights, retirement, pensions, university financing.

Evaluation of NHS Direct ‘‘referral’’ to community pharmacists

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate a pilot scheme of referrals from a nurse-led telephone helpline (NHS Direct) to community pharmacists. METHODS: A multi-method approach, including analysis of routine data from NHS Direct, postal surveys of NHS Direct callers, analysis of anonymised transcripts of calls, a postal survey of callers referred to pharmacists, and face-to-face interviews with NHS Direct nurses. SETTING: Essex, Barking and Havering. KEY FINDINGS: During the first three months of the pilot scheme, 6% (1,995/31,674) of NHS Direct calls triaged by nurses were logged as referred to pharmacists. This built on an existing foundation of informal referral to pharmacists of 4%. There was no measurable change in callers’ views of the helpfulness of advice, enablement, or caller satisfaction associated with the scheme. Conditions sent to pharmacists included skin rash, cough, sore throat, stomach pain, and vomiting and/or diarrhoea. 86% (54/63) of callers referred to pharmacists during the scheme felt the referral was very or quite appropriate and 75% (48/64) attempted to contact a pharmacist. In general, those who did so found the experience a positive one: 65% (31/48) spoke to the pharmacist, and 80% (28/35) of people expressing an opinion were satisfied with the advice offered, but the lack of privacy in the pharmacy was of some concern. Although routine data indicated high usage of the scheme, nurse referral of callers to pharmacists declined over time. Their initial enthusiasm diminished due to concerns about the appropriateness of guidelines, their lack of understanding of the rationale behind some referrals, and the lack of feedback about the appropriateness of their referrals. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation of the pilot scheme has generated a range of recommendations for the wider national roll-out of the scheme, including revision of the guidelines and review of NHS Direct nurse training for referral to pharmacy. NHS Direct and pharmacists should consider how to strengthen the system of pharmacist feedback to NHS Direct

Measurement of the LCG2 and glite file catalogue's performance

When the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) begins operation at CERN in 2007 it will produce data in volumes never before seen. Physicists around the world will manage, distribute and analyse petabytes of this data using the middleware provided by the LHC Computing Grid. One of the critical factors in the smooth running of this system is the performance of the file catalogues which allow users to access their files with a logical filename without knowing their physical location. This paper presents a detailed study comparing the performance and respective merits and shortcomings of two of the main catalogues: the LCG File Catalogue and the gLite FiReMan catalogue

A simplified approach to quantitative coded aperture X-ray phase imaging

We recently demonstrated how quantitative X-ray phase contrast imaging may be performed with laboratory sources using the coded aperture technique. This technique required the knowledge of system parameters such as, for example, the source focal spot size and distances between elements of the imaging system. The method also assumes that the absorbing regions of the apertures are perfectly absorbing. In this paper we demonstrate how quantitative imaging can be performed without knowledge of individual system parameters and with partially absorbing apertures. We also show that this method is analogous to that employed in analyser based imaging which uses the rocking curve of an analyser crystal

Impact of NHS Direct on demand for immediate care: observational study

OBJECTIVES: To quantify the impact of NHS Direct on the use of accident and emergency, ambulance, and general practitioner cooperative services. DESIGN: Observational study of trends in use of NHS Direct and other immediate care services over 24 months spanning introduction of NHS Direct. Setting Three areas in England in first wave of introduction of NHS Direct, and six nearby general practitioner cooperatives as controls. SUBJECTS: All contacts with these immediate care services. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in trends in use after introduction of NHS Direct. Results NHS Direct received about 68 500 calls from a population of 1.3 million in its first year of operation, of which 72% were out of hours and 22% about a child aged under 5 years. Changes in trends in use of accident and emergency departments and ambulance services after introduction of NHS Direct were small and non­significant. Changes in trends in use of general practitioner cooperatives were also small but significant, from an increase of 2.0% a month before introduction of NHS Direct to - 0.8% afterwards (relative change - 2.9% (95% confidence interval - 4.2% to - 1.5%)). This reduction in trend was significant both for calls handled by telephone advice alone and for those resulting in direct contact with a doctor. In contrast, the six control cooperatives showed no evidence of change in trend; an increase of 0.8% a month before NHS Direct and 0.9% after (relative change 0.1% ( - 0.9% to 1.1%)). CONCLUSION: In its first year NHS Direct did not reduce the pressure on NHS immediate care services, although it may have restrained increasing demand on one important part—general practitioners' out of hours services

CLIMATE AND COOPERATION: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON THE MANAGEMENT OF SHARED FISH STOCKS

Climate regime shifts occur at irregular intervals and have profound and persistent impacts on ocean temperature and circulation patterns and on the dynamics of marine fish populations. Despite a growing scientific literature and some attention to the implications of such regime shifts for domestic fisheries, the issue has received little attention in the context of international fishery management. This paper presents evidence for the significance of climatic regime shifts, and draws upon the recent history of conflict between Canada and the United States over Pacific salmon management to illustrate the dangers that unpredicted, unanticipated environmental regime shifts pose for efforts to maintain international cooperation. This suggests a need for greater attention to this issue. Fishery agreements can be made more resilient to the impacts of such environmental changes by explicitly building in flexibility — for example, by allowing the use of side payments. In addition, pre-agreements on procedures to be followed in the event of sustained changes in fish stock productivity or migration patterns, and cooperation on developing common scientific understandings, can help to prevent destructive conflicts. Finally, the literature employing game theoretic shared-fishery models could be further developed to focus on providing practical guidance for maintaining cooperation in the presence of unpredictable and persistent environmental changes.climate regimes, shared fisheries, potential conflicts, uncertainty, Q21, Q22, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Integrating community pharmacy and NHS Direct - pharmacists' views

AIM:To establish the views of community pharmacists on NHS Direct and its forthcoming integration with community pharmacy. DESIGN: Postal questionnaire survey. SUBJECTS AND SETTING: Pharmacists working in community pharmacies within the area of the NHS Direct Pharmacy pilot scheme - Essex, Barking and Havering. RESULTS: The response rate to the postal survey was 72% (263/364). Most pharmacies were generally supportive of NHS Direct (80%) and the pharmacy scheme in principle (83%), although their experience of the scheme in practice was limited. Perhaps because of this, the majority of pharmacists were unsure as to whether NHS Direct was referring appropriately, or whether the pharmacy would be able to meet the needs of patients without further referral. Almost half believed that patients referred by NHS Direct should be seen in a quiet area, away from the counter. Over two-thirds of pharmacists were willing to accommodate an NHS Direct information point in their pharmacy, although space was an issue. CONCLUSION: Overall the results of this study suggested that community pharmacists welcome their increasing involvement in the developing immediate care system. As the Government commitment in the NHS plan to integrate community pharmacy with NHS Direct becomes a reality across England and Wales over coming months the implications for pharmacists, in terms of workload and the adequacy of premises, will become clearer. Careful audit of the operation of the scheme will be essential

How helpful is NHS Direct? Postal survey of callers

NHS Direct, the new 24 hour telephone advice line staffed by nurses, was established to “provide easier and faster information for people about health, illness and the NHS so that they are better able to care for themselves and their families.” In March 1998, three first wave sites started in Lancashire, Milton Keynes, and Northumbria. As part of an extensive evaluation of this new service, we surveyed callers to determine how helpful they found the advice offered