Family Foundation Giving Trends 2012

Family Foundation Giving Trends 2012 is the fifth in a series of reports that annually updates the giving of the largest 100 family foundations in the UK, tracking trends and comparing them with their US counterparts. Giving through family foundations represents around 8% of all private giving in the UK.This year's report is a special edition aimed at providing a more rounded picture of family foundation philanthropy. The regular updating of the annual league tables of giving is complemented by new research on the causes supported, the influences on decision-making in an uncertain environment, and family foundations' outlook for the future.The research was carried out through extracting financial data from annual reports and websites on annual spending and the distribution of grants by cause, and an online survey of decision-making amongst the largest family foundations (40 responses, 45% response rate).For this research, UK and US family foundations are defined as independent registered charitable trusts funded originally by family wealth, whether or not the founding family is still represented on the governing board.Key financial results 2010/11The total giving of the largest 100 UK family foundations was £1.33 billion in 2010/11.The results presented a mixed picture of growth: while there was an overall real fall of 1.8% in giving, there was a substantial 6.2% real rise if the results of the giant Wellcome Trust are excluded from the group.The rise in giving bucked the trend for the value of family foundations' assets: these were worth £29.7 billion in 2010/11, representing a real annual fall of 3.5%.Although there were some signs of growth this year, the giving of the largest family foundations has not yet returned to pre-recession levels.Asset value in 2010/11 was still a real 14% lower than in 2006/07

Giving Back to Communities of Residence and of Origin : An Analysis of Remittances and Charitable Donations in the UK

It reports the results of research on the different ways in which migrant and minority groups in the UK give, which are largely unacknowledged or underestimated in traditional giving surveys. Focussing mainly on money sent overseas and charitable donations in the UK, the findings provide a new and more comprehensive picture of giving by the UK's migrant and minoritygroups. They show both their generosity and sense of community responsibility. In a period of economic stress in the UK, with renewed awareness of the need to give back to the community and government support for policy and practice to promote it, the findings are timely. They show that patterns and models of giving amongst the UK's migrant and minority population should be better valued, celebrated, shared and supported

Careful and Curious:A Transformative Ethos for Artistic Evaluation

The logic of government subsidy recognises that there are forms of value not suitably captured by exchanges of the free market. Yet there remains a growing impetus for arts organisations and individual artists to measure and articulate the specific value of their practices through formal processes of evaluation. In the context of government subsidy, evaluation typically misses opportunities to capture unforeseen insights that artists and communities may articulate through alternative forms of evaluation. This article offers a conceptual discussion and illustrative example of how more open and exploratory evaluation methodologies may intersect with existing government frameworks. We draw on the work of feminist economists J.K Gibson-Graham and Marilyn Waring, alongside Maria Puig de la Bellacasa’s “triptych of care as ‘ethics-work-affect’” (2017, 13) and Perry Zurn’s understanding of “feminist curiosity” (2021, 1). We demonstrate our model’s application in the case of the ACT Government’s Creative Recovery and Resilience Program and their piloting of the Cultural Development Network evaluation framework, reflecting upon the potential of evaluation as a process that generates value itself by developing a language of possibilities for artists and communities (Gibson-Graham 2006). Our evaluation approach is careful in that it values care, and curious in that it is committed to experimental and creative-centred methods adopted across project design, delivery and evaluation. Rather than a literal framework to adopt, our creative response to existing evaluation tools and instruments advocates with the “transformative ethos” (Puig de la Bellacasa 2011, 100) of a careful and curious approach to evaluation

Interferons as Therapeutic Agents in Infectious Diseases

This article explains the rationale for development of interferons as therapeutic agents, and describes commercial products available today. It also provides a summary of studies that have been performed with interferons for use as exogenous biological response modifiers in viral infections. Overall, the best data exist for treatment of viral hepatitis B and C, for which interferons are a cornerstone of therapy. Although infections with human papillomavirus and common cold viruses sometimes respond favorably to interferons, their outcomes are far from ideal. Finally, the role of interferons as vaccine adjuvants is still being explored but could be promising

A Gender Gap Grade Analysis of Hard Sciences Courses in a School of Pharmacy

A student survey was conducted to determine perceptions of such things as differential treatment due to gender, level of preparedness for courses in the hard sciences, and gender performances of students in the sciences. Additionally, students’ grades of sixteen courses with a heavy hard science focus were analyzed by taking the percent of a letter grade sorted by male or female to determine if there was a significant gender difference in the final grades. Our objectives were to: 1) determine if the underrepresentation of women in some health-related jobs is due to discouragement of females to enter these professions or perceptions of success in hard science courses, 2) examine grades in courses with a strong biology and chemistry focus to see if a significant difference due to gender exists. We concluded that a gender gap in hard sciences grades at the School of Pharmacy did exist but the gap was not large and was not present in all courses. The majority of women were not discouraged to pursue a science based career, but there was a difference in the perceived confidence that many females exhibit in the ability to learn material in the hard science courses and in their preparedness for hard science exams

Religion as practices of attachment and materiality: the making of Buddhism in contemporary London

This article aims to explore Buddhism’s often-overlooked presence on London’s urban landscape, showing how its quietness and subtlety of approach has allowed the faith to grow largely beneath the radar. It argues that Buddhism makes claims to urban space in much the same way as it produces its faith, being as much about the practices performed and the spaces where they are enacted as it is about faith or beliefs. The research across a number of Buddhist sites in London reveals that number of people declaring themselves as Buddhists has indeed risen in recent years, following the rise of other non-traditional religions in the UK; however, this research suggests that Buddhism differs from these in several ways. Drawing on Baumann’s (2002) distinction between traditionalist and modernist approaches to Buddhism, our research reveals a growth in each of these. Nevertheless, Buddhism remains largely invisible in the urban and suburban landscape of London, adapting buildings that are already in place, with little material impact on the built environment, and has thus been less subject to contestation than other religious movements and traditions. This research contributes to a growing literature which foregrounds the importance of religion in making contemporary urban and social worlds

Noninvasive assessment of asthma severity using pulse oximeter plethysmograph estimate of pulsus paradoxus physiology

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Pulsus paradoxus estimated by dynamic change in area under the oximeter plethysmograph waveform (PEP) might provide a measure of acute asthma severity. Our primary objective was to determine how well PEP correlates with forced expiratory volume in 1-second (%FEV₁) (criterion validity) and change of %FEV₁(responsiveness) during treatment in pediatric patients with acute asthma exacerbations.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We prospectively studied subjects 5 to 17 years of age with asthma exacerbations. PEP, %FEV₁, airway resistance and accessory muscle use were recorded at baseline and at 2 and 4 hours after initiation of corticosteroid and bronchodilator treatments. Statistical associations were tested with Pearson or Spearman rank correlations, logistic regression using generalized estimating equations, or Wilcoxon rank sum tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We studied 219 subjects (median age 9 years; male 62%; African-American 56%). Correlation of PEP with %FEV₁demonstrated criterion validity (r = - 0.44, 95% confidence interval [CI], - 0.56 to - 0.30) and responsiveness at 2 hours (r = - 0.31, 95% CI, - 0.50 to - 0.09) and 4 hours (r = - 0.38, 95% CI, - 0.62 to - 0.07). PEP also correlated with airway resistance at baseline (r = 0.28 for ages 5 to 10; r = 0.45 for ages 10 to 17), but not with change over time. PEP was associated with accessory muscle use (OR 1.16, 95% CI, 1.11 to 1.21, P < 0.0001).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>PEP demonstrates criterion validity and responsiveness in correlations with %FEV₁. PEP correlates with airway resistance at baseline and is associated with accessory muscle use at baseline and at 2 and 4 hours after initiation of treatment. Incorporation of this technology into contemporary pulse oximeters may provide clinicians improved parameters with which to make clinical assessments of asthma severity and response to treatment, particularly in patients who cannot perform spirometry because of young age or severity of illness. It might also allow for earlier recognition and improved management of other disorders leading to elevated pulsus paradoxus.</p