Men's experiences of having a partner who requires Mother and Baby Unit admission for first episode postpartum psychosis

Aims The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of men during their partner's admission to a Mother and Baby Unit for first episode postpartum psychosis. Background Postpartum psychosis can be life-changing for women, however little is known about the impact on their partners or their partners' needs. Design An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach was used to analyse interview transcripts. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants. Interviews were conducted in 2014–2015. Findings Two main themes were identified: ‘What the f*** is going on?’ and ‘Time to figure out how your family works’. Partners experienced shock and confusion during postpartum psychosis onset. Most felt hospital admission was beneficial, although there were barriers to accessing help and involvement in their partner's care. A process of understanding changes to roles, relationships and family identity was described. Loss was a common experience, with a potentially lasting impact. Conclusions Men reported a range of challenging and positive experiences associated with their partner's postpartum psychosis. Improvements are needed in awareness of postpartum psychosis, access to appropriate services and support of partners

RoadMap for the Development of Education in Kazakhstan: Higher Education Roadmap Recommendations

This document presents a set of recommendations for the Roadmap Project of the Republic of Kazakhstan developed by the Higher Education Project Team (Mary Canning, Joni Finney, Dennis Jones and Aims McGuinness). It is based on the July 2013 report Development of Strategic Directions for Education Reforms in Kazakhstan for 2015-2020.and on the reports of the Steering Committee

EEPIC - Enhancing Employability Through Positive Interventions For Improving Career Potential: The impact of a high support career guidance intervention on the wellbeing, hopefulness, self-efficacy and employability of the long-term unemployed - a study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background: Labour market policy (LMP) and its implementation have undergone rapid change internationally in the last three decades with a continued trend towards active LMP. In Ireland however, this shift has been more recent with ongoing reforms since 2012 and a concomitant move toward active labour market ‘work-first’ policy design (i.e. whereby unemployed people are compulsorily required to work in return for their social welfare benefits). Labour market policies vary from those that require this compulsory approach to those which enable the unemployed to move towards sustainable quality work in the labour market through upskilling (human capital approach). Despite this, however, long-term unemployment—a major cause of poverty and social exclusion—remains high, while current employment support approaches aimed at sustainable re-employment are, arguably, unevaluated and under examined. This study examines the effectiveness of a new high support career guidance intervention in terms of its impact on aspects of wellbeing, perceived employability and enhancing career sustainability. Method: The study involves a single-centre randomised, controlled, partially blinded trial. A total of 140 long-term unemployed job-seekers from a disadvantaged urban area will be randomly assigned to two groups: (1) an intervention group; and (2) a ‘service as usual’ group. Each group will be followed up immediately post intervention and six months later. The primary outcome is wellbeing at post intervention and at six-month follow-up. The secondary outcome is perceived employability, which includes a number of different facets including self-esteem, hopefulness, resilience and career self-efficacy

A calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase from mammalian brain that phosphorylates Synapsin I: partial purification and characterization

A calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase, which phosphorylates a synaptic vesicle-associated protein designated Synapsin I, has been shown to be present in both soluble and particulate fractions of rat brain homogenates. In the present study, the particulate activity was solubilized by washing with a low ionic strength solution, and the enzymes from the two fractions were partially purified by ion exchange chromatography and calmodulin-Sepharose affinity chromatography. By each of several criteria, the partially purified enzymes from the two sources were indistinguishable. These criteria included specificity for various substrate proteins, concentration dependence of activation by calcium and calmodulin, pH dependence, and apparent affinities for the substrates Synapsin I and ATP. The mild conditions that released the particulate enzyme indicated that it was not tightly bound to the membrane and suggested that it may exist in a dynamic equilibrium between soluble and particulate-bound states. The partially purified enzyme preparations from both the soluble and particulate fractions contained three proteins that were phosphorylated in the presence of calcium and calmodulin, a 50-kilodalton (Kd) protein and two proteins in the 60-Kd region. When compared by phosphopeptide mapping and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, the proteins were indistinguishable from three proteins of corresponding molecular weights that were shown by Schulman and Greengard (Schulman, H., and P. Greengard (1978) Nature 271: 478-479) to be prominent substrates for calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase in a crude particulate preparation from rat brain. The 50-Kd substrate was the major Coomassie blue staining protein in both partially purified enzyme preparations. The peak of this protein coincided with that of enzyme activity during DEAE-cellulose and calmodulin-Sepharose chromatography. These results suggest that the 50-Kd phosphoprotein may be an autophosphorylatable subunit of the Synapsin I Kinase or may exist in a complex with it

Nanotechnology Solutions for Global Water Challenges

The lack of clean and safe drinking water is responsible for more deaths than war, terrorism and weapons of mass destruction combined. This suggests contaminated water poses a significant threat to human health and welfare. In addition, standard water disinfection approaches such as sedimentation, filtration, and chemical or biological degradation are not fully capable of destroying emerging contaminants (e.g. pesticides, pharmaceutical waste products) or certain types of bacteria (e.g. Cryptosporidium parvum). Nanomaterials and nanotechnology based devices can potentially be employed to solve the challenges posed by various contaminants and microorganisms. Nanomaterials of different shapes, namely nanoparticles, nanotubes, nanowires and fibers have the ability to function as adsorbents and catalysts. These possess an expansive array of physicochemical characteristics deeming them highly attractive for the production of reactive media for water membrane filtration, a vital step in the production of potable water. As a result of their exceptional adsorptive capacity for water contaminants, graphene based nanomaterials have emerged as an area of significant importance in the area of membrane filtration and water treatment. In addition, Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) together with or without sources of light irradiation or ultrasound, have been found to be promising alternatives for water treatment at near ambient temperature and pressure. Furthermore, the uses of visible light active titanium dioxide photocatalysts and photo-Fenton processes have shown significant potential for water purification. A wide variety of nanomaterial based sensors, for the monitoring of water quality, have also been reviewed in detail. In conclusion, the rapid and continued growth in the area of nanomaterial based devices offers significant hope for addressing future water quality challenges

DIAGNOSTIC REPORT

The final report on the first phase (2013) of the “Development of the strategic directions for education reform in Kazakh- stan for 2015-2020” project was implemented by the Graduate School of Education at Nazarbayev University on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The purpose of this research is to conduct a diagnosis of the education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the educational system and the subsequent identification of areas for further modernization at each level

DIAGNOSTIC REPORT

The final report on the first phase (2013) of the “Development of the strategic directions for education reform in Kazakh- stan for 2015-2020” project was implemented by the Graduate School of Education at Nazarbayev University on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The purpose of this research is to conduct a diagnosis of the education system of the Republic of Kazakhstan in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the educational system and the subsequent identification of areas for further modernization at each level