Managerial Work in a Practice-Embodying Institution - The role of calling, the virtue of constancy

What can be learned from a small scale study of managerial work in a highly marginal and under-researched working community? This paper uses the ‘goods-virtues-practices-institutions’ framework to examine the managerial work of owner-directors of traditional circuses. Inspired by MacIntyre’s arguments for the necessity of a narrative understanding of the virtues, interviews explored how British and Irish circus directors accounted for their working lives. A purposive sample was used to select subjects who had owned and managed traditional touring circuses for at least 15 years, a period in which the economic and reputational fortunes of traditional circuses have suffered badly. This sample enabled the research to examine the self-understanding of people who had, at least on the face of it, exhibited the virtue of constancy. The research contributes to our understanding of the role of the virtues in organizations by presenting evidence of an intimate relationship between the virtue of constancy and a ‘calling’ work orientation. This enhances our understanding of the virtues that are required if management is exercised as a domain-related practice

Overcoming barriers to engaging socio-economically disadvantaged populations in CHD primary prevention: a qualitative study

<p><b>Background:</b> Preventative medicine has become increasingly important in efforts to reduce the burden of chronic disease in industrialised countries. However, interventions that fail to recruit socio-economically representative samples may widen existing health inequalities. This paper explores the barriers and facilitators to engaging a socio-economically disadvantaged (SED) population in primary prevention for coronary heart disease (CHD).</p> <p><b>Methods:</b> The primary prevention element of Have a Heart Paisley (HaHP) offered risk screening to all eligible individuals. The programme employed two approaches to engaging with the community: a) a social marketing campaign and b) a community development project adopting primarily face-to-face canvassing. Individuals living in areas of SED were under-recruited via the social marketing approach, but successfully recruited via face-to-face canvassing. This paper reports on focus group discussions with participants, exploring their perceptions about and experiences of both approaches.</p> <p><b>Results:</b> Various reasons were identified for low uptake of risk screening amongst individuals living in areas of high SED in response to the social marketing campaign and a number of ways in which the face-to-face canvassing approach overcame these barriers were identified. These have been categorised into four main themes: (1) processes of engagement; (2) issues of understanding; (3) design of the screening service and (4) the priority accorded to screening. The most immediate barriers to recruitment were the invitation letter, which often failed to reach its target, and the general distrust of postal correspondence. In contrast, participants were positive about the face-to-face canvassing approach. Participants expressed a lack of knowledge and understanding about CHD and their risk of developing it and felt there was a lack of clarity in the information provided in the mailing in terms of the process and value of screening. In contrast, direct face-to-face contact meant that outreach workers could explain what to expect. Participants felt that the procedure for uptake of screening was demanding and inflexible, but that the drop-in sessions employed by the community development project had a major impact on recruitment and retention.</p> <p><b>Conclusion:</b> Socio-economically disadvantaged individuals can be hard-to-reach; engagement requires strategies tailored to the needs of the target population rather than a population-wide approach.</p&gt

Predicting language learners' grades in the L1, L2, L3 and L4: the effect of some psychological and sociocognitive variables

This study of 89 Flemish high-school students' grades for L1 (Dutch), L2 (French), L3 (English) and L4 (German) investigates the effects of three higher-level personality dimensions (psychoticism, extraversion, neuroticism), one lower-level personality dimension (foreign language anxiety) and sociobiographical variables (gender, social class) on the participants' language grades. Analyses of variance revealed no significant effects of the higher-level personality dimensions on grades. Participants with high levels of foreign language anxiety obtained significantly lower grades in the L2 and L3. Gender and social class had no effect. Strong positive correlations between grades in the different languages could point to an underlying sociocognitive dimension. The implications of these findings are discussed

Socioeconomic differentials in the immediate mortality effects of the national Irish smoking ban

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Background: Consistent evidence has demonstrated that smoking ban policies save lives, but impacts on health inequalities are uncertain as few studies have assessed post-ban effects by socioeconomic status (SES) and findings have been inconsistent. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of the national Irish smoking ban on ischemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) mortality by discrete and composite SES indicators to determine impacts on inequalities. Methods: Census data were used to assign frequencies of structural and material SES indicators to 34 local authorities across Ireland with a 2000–2010 study period. Discrete indicators were jointly analysed through principal component analysis to generate a composite index, with sensitivity analyses conducted by varying the included indicators. Poisson regression with interrupted time-series analysis was conducted to examine monthly age and gender-standardised mortality rates in the Irish population, ages ≥35 years, stratified by tertiles of SES indicators. All models were adjusted for time trend, season, influenza, and smoking prevalence. Results: Post-ban mortality reductions by structural SES indicators were concentrated in the most deprived tertile for all causes of death, while reductions by material SES indicators were more equitable across SES tertiles. The composite indices mirrored the results of the discrete indicators, demonstrating that post-ban mortality decreases were either greater or similar in the most deprived when compared to the least deprived for all causes of death. Conclusions: Overall findings indicated that the national Irish smoking ban reduced inequalities in smoking-related mortality. Due to the higher rates of smoking-related mortality in the most deprived group, even equitable reductions across SES tertiles resulted in decreases in inequalities. The choice of SES indicator was influential in the measurement of effects, underscoring that a differentiated analytical approach aided in understanding the complexities in which structural and material factors influence mortality

Improving the uptake of pre-travel health advice amongst migrant Australians: exploring the attitudes of primary care providers and migrant community groups.

BACKGROUND: Migrant travellers who return to their country of origin to visit family and friends (VFR) are less likely to seek travel-related medical care and are less likely to adhere to recommended medications and travel precautions. Through this study, we aimed to get an understanding of the views of stakeholders from community migrant centres and primary care providers on barriers for migrants, particularly from non-English speaking backgrounds, in accessing travel health advice and the strategies that could be used to engage them. METHODS: A qualitative study involving 20 semi-structured interviews was undertaken in Sydney, Australia between January 2013 and September 2014. Thematic analysis was undertaken. RESULTS: Language barriers, a lower perceived risk of travel-related infections and the financial costs of seeking pre-travel health care were nominated as being the key barriers impacting on the uptake of pre-travel health advice and precautions. To overcome pre-existing language barriers, participants advocated for the use of bilingual community educators, community radio, ethnic newspapers and posters in the dissemination of pre-travel health information. CONCLUSIONS: Travel is a major vector of importation of infectious diseases into Australia, and VFR travellers are at high risk of infection. Collaboration between the Government, primary care physicians, migrant community groups and migrants themselves is crucial if we are to be successful in reducing travel-related risks among this subgroup of travellers

The effects of socioeconomic status and indices of physical environment on reduced birth weight and preterm births in Eastern Massachusetts

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background: Air pollution and social characteristics have been shown to affect indicators of health. While use of spatial methods to estimate exposure to air pollution has increased the power to detect effects, questions have been raised about potential for confounding by social factors.Methods: A study of singleton births in Eastern Massachusetts was conducted between 1996 and 2002 to examine the association between indicators of traffic, land use, individual and area-based socioeconomic measures (SEM), and birth outcomes ( birth weight, small for gestational age and preterm births), in a two-level hierarchical model.Results: We found effects of both individual ( education, race, prenatal care index) and area-based ( median household income) SEM with all birth outcomes. The associations for traffic and land use variables were mainly seen with birth weight, with an exception for an effect of cumulative traffic density on small for gestational age. Race/ethnicity of mother was an important predictor of birth outcomes and a strong confounder for both area-based SEM and indices of physical environment. The effects of traffic and land use differed by level of education and median household income.Conclusion: Overall, the findings of the study suggested greater likelihood of reduced birth weight and preterm births among the more socially disadvantaged, and a greater risk of reduced birth weight associated with traffic exposures. Results revealed the importance of controlling simultaneously for SEM and environmental exposures as the way to better understand determinants of health.This work is supported by the Harvard Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Center, Grants R827353 and R-832416, and National Institute for Environmental Health Science (NIEHS) ES-0002

Common polygenic risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with cognitive ability in the general population

Acknowledgements Generation Scotland has received core funding from the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government Health Directorates CZD/16/6 and the Scottish Funding Council HR03006. We are grateful to all the families who took part, the general practitioners and the Scottish School of Primary Care for their help in recruiting them and the whole Generation Scotland team, which includes interviewers, computer and laboratory technicians, clerical workers, research scientists, volunteers, managers, receptionists, health-care assistants and nurses. We acknowledge with gratitude the financial support received for this work from the Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler Foundation. For the Lothian Birth Cohorts (LBC1921 and LBC1936), we thank Paul Redmond for database management assistance; Alan Gow, Martha Whiteman, Alison Pattie, Michelle Taylor, Janie Corley, Caroline Brett and Caroline Cameron for data collection and data entry; nurses and staff at the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility, where blood extraction and genotyping was performed; staff at the Lothian Health Board; and the staff at the SCRE Centre, University of Glasgow. The research was supported by a program grant from Age UK (Disconnected Mind) and by grants from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). The work was undertaken by The University of Edinburgh Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, part of the cross council Lifelong Health and Wellbeing Initiative (MR/K026992/1). Funding from the Medical Research Council (MRC) and BBSRC is gratefully acknowledged. DJM is an NRS Career Research Fellow funded by the CSO. BATS were funded by the Australian Research Council (A79600334, A79906588, A79801419, DP0212016, DP0664638, and DP1093900) and the National Health and Medical Research Council (389875) Australia. MKL is supported by a Perpetual Foundation Wilson Fellowship. SEM is supported by a Future Fellowship (FT110100548) from the Australian Research Council. GWM is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia, Fellowship (619667). We thank the twins and siblings for their participation, Marlene Grace, Ann Eldridge and Natalie Garden for cognitive assessments, Kerrie McAloney, Daniel Park, David Smyth and Harry Beeby for research support, Anjali Henders and staff in the Molecular Epidemiology Laboratory for DNA sample processing and preparation and Scott Gordon for quality control and management of the genotypes. This work is supported by a Stragetic Award from the Wellcome Trust, reference 104036/Z/14/Z.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Specialised information processing deficits and distinct metabolomics profiles following TM-domain disruption of Nrg1

While there is considerable genetic and pathologic evidence for an association between neuregulin 1 (NRG1) dysregulation and schizophrenia, the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms remain unclear. Mutant mice containing disruption of the transmembrane (TM) domain of the NRG1 gene constitute a heuristic model for dysregulation of NRG1-ErbB4 signalling in schizophrenia. The present study focused on specialised behavioural and characterisation of hitherto un-characterised information processing phenotypes in this mutant line. Using a mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach, we also quantified levels of unique metabolites in brain. Across two different sites and protocols, Nrg1 mutants demonstrated deficits in pre-pulse inhibition, a measure of sensorimotor gating that is disrupted in schizophrenia; these deficits were partially reversed by acute treatment with second-, but not first-, generation antipsychotic drugs. However, Nrg1 mutants did not show a specific deficit in latent inhibition, a measure of selective attention that is also disrupted in schizophrenia. In contrast, in the ‘what-where-when’ cognitive paradigm, Nrg1 mutants displayed sex-specific (males only) disruption of ‘what-when’ performance, indicative of impaired episodic memory. Differential metabolomic profiling revealed that these behavioural phenotypes were accompanied, most prominently, by alterations in lipid metabolism pathways. This study is the first to associate these novel physiological mechanisms, previously independently identified as being abnormal in schizophrenia, with disruption of NRG1 function. These data suggest novel mechanisms by which compromised neuregulin function from birth might lead to schizophrenia-relevant behavioural changes in adulthood

Adenosine-mono-phosphate-activated protein kinase-independent effects of metformin in T cells

The anti-diabetic drug metformin regulates T-cell responses to immune activation and is proposed to function by regulating the energy-stress-sensing adenosine-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK). However, the molecular details of how metformin controls T cell immune responses have not been studied nor is there any direct evidence that metformin acts on T cells via AMPK. Here, we report that metformin regulates cell growth and proliferation of antigen-activated T cells by modulating the metabolic reprogramming that is required for effector T cell differentiation. Metformin thus inhibits the mammalian target of rapamycin complex I signalling pathway and prevents the expression of the transcription factors c-Myc and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha. However, the inhibitory effects of metformin on T cells did not depend on the expression of AMPK in T cells. Accordingly, experiments with metformin inform about the importance of metabolic reprogramming for T cell immune responses but do not inform about the importance of AMPK

Are there gender differences in the geography of alcohol-related mortality in Scotland? An ecological study

<b>Background</b> There is growing concern about alcohol-related harm, particularly within Scotland which has some of the highest rates of alcohol-related death in western Europe. There are large gender differences in alcohol-related mortality rates in Scotland and in other countries, but the reasons for these differences are not clearly understood. In this paper, we aimed to address calls in the literature for further research on gender differences in the causes, contexts and consequences of alcohol-related harm. Our primary research question was whether the kind of social environment which tends to produce higher or lower rates of alcohol-related mortality is the same for both men and women across Scotland. <b>Methods</b> Cross-sectional, ecological design. A comparison was made between spatial variation in men's and women's age-standardised alcohol-related mortality rates in Scotland using maps, Moran's Index, linear regression and spatial analyses of residuals. Directly standardised mortality rates were derived from individual level records of death registration, 2000–2005 (n = 8685). <b>Results</b> As expected, men's alcohol-related mortality rate substantially exceeded women's and there was substantial spatial variation in these rates for both men and women within Scotland. However, there was little spatial variation in the relationship between men's and women's alcohol-mortality rates (r2 = 0.73); areas with relatively high rates of alcohol-related mortality for men tended also to have relatively high rates for women. In a small number of areas (8 out of 144) the relationship between men's and women's alcohol-related mortality rates was significantly different. <b>Conclusion</b> In as far as geographic location captures exposure to social and economic environment, our results suggest that the relationship between social and economic environment and alcohol-related harm is very similar for men and women. The existence of a small number of areas in which men's and women's alcohol-related mortality had an different relationship suggests that some places may have unusual drinking cultures. These might prove useful for further investigations into the factors which influence drinking behaviour in men and women