Change content and aid effectiveness : how the size of change content affects implementation of technical assistance recommendations in developing Pacific Island countries

International aid agencies offer development aid with the expectation that developing countries will transform to such an extent that they can look after themselves, yet many countries have not developed as expected. This study identifies how the size of the change content of technical assistance recommendations affects their implementation: Technical assistance recommendations from the Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre, Fiji, to developing Pacific Island countries were studied. A content analysis was conducted to assess size using traditional transactional and transformational change definitions, and a survey questionnaire was used to assess size from the perspective of the technical assistance recipients. The content analysis findings suggest the majority of the changes are transactional, whereas, the recipients have rated the majority of the changes as large. The recipient’s perspective of size was most indicative of the likely implementation of the change. Changes rated as ‘small’ by the recipients are almost certain to be implemented whereas changes rated as ‘large’ have only a one-in-three chance of being implemented. If technical assistance recommendations are transactional manageable reforms in the eyes of aid agencies but are not seen the same way by recipients the chances a recommendation will be implemented, and the technical assistance successful, are compromised. The study supports the notion that to be effective technical assistance recommendations need to be seen through the eyes of the recipient

Women’s Preferences for Communication with the Cervical Screening Programme : A Qualitative Study

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research took place in the University of Aberdeen and NHS Grampian, Aberdeen, UK. We are grateful to the women who participated in our study and the NHS staff at the Women's Day Clinic in Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for their support. Funding was obtained from NHS Grampian Endowment fund for summer studentship.Peer reviewedPostprin

Information needs of young women vaccinated against HPV attending colposcopy : a qualitative study

Acknowledgements The University of Aberdeen and Aberdeen Royal Infirmary for the opportunity to undertake research at an undergraduate level. We are grateful to all the women who took part in this study. Funding The University of Aberdeen provides a small sum of money to support medical students carrying out research projects but was not involved in the design of the study, data collection, analysis and interpretation or writing the manuscript. AY attended the University of Aberdeen at the time this study was undertaken.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Exploring Opinions and Concerns about the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine on a United Kingdom Online Discussion Forum

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Psychosocial impact of alternative management policies for low-grade cervical abnormalities : results from the TOMBOLA randomised controlled trial

Background: Large numbers of women who participate in cervical screening require follow-up for minor cytological abnormalities. Little is known about the psychological consequences of alternative management policies for these women. We compared, over 30-months, psychosocial outcomes of two policies: cytological surveillance (repeat cervical cytology tests in primary care) and a hospital-based colposcopy examination. Methods: Women attending for a routine cytology test within the UK NHS Cervical Screening Programmes were eligible to participate. 3399 women, aged 20–59 years, with low-grade abnormal cytology, were randomised to cytological surveillance (six-monthly tests; n = 1703) or initial colposcopy with biopsies and/or subsequent treatment based on colposcopic and histological findings (n = 1696). At 12, 18, 24 and 30-months post-recruitment, women completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). A subgroup (n = 2354) completed the Impact of Event Scale (IES) six weeks after the colposcopy episode or first surveillance cytology test. Primary outcomes were percentages over the entire follow-up period of significant depression (≥8) and significant anxiety (≥11; “30-month percentages”). Secondary outcomes were point prevalences of significant depression, significant anxiety and procedure-related distress (≥9). Outcomes were compared between arms by calculating fully-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for initial colposcopy versus cytological surveillance. Results: There was no significant difference in 30-month percentages of significant depression (OR = 0.99, 95% CI 0.80–1.21) or anxiety (OR = 0.97, 95% CI 0.81–1.16) between arms. At the six-week assessment, anxiety and distress, but not depression, were significantly less common in the initial colposcopy arm (anxiety: 7.9% vs 13.4%; OR = 0.55, 95% CI 0.38–0.81; distress: 30.6% vs 39.3%, OR = 0.67 95% CI 0.54–0.84). Neither anxiety nor depression differed between arms at subsequent time-points. Conclusions: There was no difference in the longer-term psychosocial impact of management policies based on cytological surveillance or initial colposcopy. Policy-makers, clinicians, and women themselves can be reassured that neither management policy has a significantly greater psychosocial cost

New Perspectives on Mathematics Pedagogy

“New Perspectives on Mathematics Pedagogy” represents a serious attempt to understand pedagogy within mathematics classrooms. To that end, this symposium will address the key questions and issues surrounding mathematics pedagogy presently confronting vast numbers of researchers, as well as educators, and policy makers. Organised around presentations, responses, discussion and debate, the symposium is intended not only to enhance understanding but also to stimulate fresh thinking and initiate ongoing critical dialogue about the practice of mathematics pedagogy within teaching and learning settings

Toward a ground-motion logic tree for probabilistic seismic hazard assessment in Europe

The Seismic Hazard Harmonization in Europe (SHARE) project, which began in June 2009, aims at establishing new standards for probabilistic seismic hazard assessment in the Euro-Mediterranean region. In this context, a logic tree for ground-motion prediction in Europe has been constructed. Ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) and weights have been determined so that the logic tree captures epistemic uncertainty in ground-motion prediction for six different tectonic regimes in Europe. Here we present the strategy that we adopted to build such a logic tree. This strategy has the particularity of combining two complementary and independent approaches: expert judgment and data testing. A set of six experts was asked to weight pre-selected GMPEs while the ability of these GMPEs to predict available data was evaluated with the method of Scherbaum et al. (Bull Seismol Soc Am 99:3234-3247, 2009). Results of both approaches were taken into account to commonly select the smallest set of GMPEs to capture the uncertainty in ground-motion prediction in Europe. For stable continental regions, two models, both from eastern North America, have been selected for shields, and three GMPEs from active shallow crustal regions have been added for continental crust. For subduction zones, four models, all non-European, have been chosen. Finally, for active shallow crustal regions, we selected four models, each of them from a different host region but only two of them were kept for long periods. In most cases, a common agreement has been also reached for the weights. In case of divergence, a sensitivity analysis of the weights on the seismic hazard has been conducted, showing that once the GMPEs have been selected, the associated set of weights has a smaller influence on the hazar